


Stories of Leda

by Tanagariel



Series: Stories of Leda [1]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Drama, F/F, Romance, TW: Blood, TW: Violence, tw: scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-12 17:06:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 58,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1193004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tanagariel/pseuds/Tanagariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a continent, Leda. Leda was inhabited by five races: the humans, the warlocks, the fairies, the elven and the orcs. In this land, two girls fates will be entwined, together they are going to live many adventures, meeting in their path allies and enemies. But more important than that, can this two oppposites attract or they are going to kill each other before that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fate is a Bitch

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously guys Rachel needs some love, so this fic will be focus mainly on Propunk, but you can expect other faves to do their appearances during this story. This will be pure fantasy, so if you are into elves, sorcerers, fairies and mythical beast this is the fic for you.
> 
> As always a huge round of applause to my number one beta girl glynnbearboo.tumblr.com
> 
> And thank you so much for taking the time to read this stuff, it means a lot to me. ENJOY xo.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a continent, Leda. Leda was inhabited by five races: the humans, the warlocks, the fairies, the elven and the orcs. The gods blessed the human race with knowledge and the will to overcome adversity. The warlocks were blessed with magic and wisdom. The fairies had a deep connection with nature, and by virtue of nature, the power to make a harvest grow in no time at all. The elves were blessed with strength and dexterity. The orcs were blessed with raw power and cunning.

All attributes worked in sync with one another, and together all of the races were invincible and everything was perfect, until the greed of man came. The search for power soon followed from the elves, the desire to control all magic from the warlocks, the envy of the fairies followed suit, and the wrath of the orcs created chaos. A great battle ensued, but the disappointed gods punished each race by removing half their blessings and allowing the sins that tainted them to remain among them. Savage beasts were also released to keep them in line.  
After the Neolution War, the races moved to different regions to avoid further conflict. Leda then divided into the five main kingdoms; Dyad Kingdom (humans), Mithrandír Kingdom (elves), Black Mountain (warlocks), the Magical Forest (fairies) and Dakasnik Kingdom (orcs).  
Many years have passed since then and all groups now live again in peace, or at least tolerate each other well. The beasts that roam Leda freely attack, at random, all of the races. They killed and ripped apart anything that was in their way, and they invaded Mithrandír. King Duncan of Dyad couldn’t allow the beasts to kill the elves, so he offered his help to King Orodreth of Mithrandír. The two kingdoms joined forces, and pushed the evil beasts into the marshlands.  
From that day on, King Orodreth not only gave his gratitude to the Dyad Kingdom; he also gave to King Duncan protection and loyalty from his best warrior and all of his descendants in turn. This gave King Duncan the confidence to look for peace among the other races.  
But peace could not be achieved; there were other factors involved that made this a very difficult task. King Duncan and his wife died in a very strange accident along with their elven escort, who left a wife and two children orphaned; the culprits were unknown.

The death of the Duncan royalty meant their only child was now the heir to the throne.  
Princess Rachel Duncan of Dyad. The little princess was still too young to fully understand the huge responsibility that fell into her hands at the tender age of three, so the counselor of her parents and now legal guardian, Aldous Leekie, had to ensure that she learned all the tools she needed to become the next ruler when she turned 21.  
Her protection now resided in the hands of the firstborn of the elven who had died among the King and Queen. Her name was Alassё. The responsibility to protect the Dyad royal family was something that the elven took very seriously; each generation not only provided protection, but their unconditional friendship as well. Alassё Narmolanya had been taught since the day she was born that she was to serve the royal family of Dyad. She knew by now, at the age of three, that her job was to protect the human princess.

According to the treaty between King Orodreth and King Duncan, the elf who was sworn to protect the royal family of Dyad was bound for life to them, and the firstborn of his line was immediately under the service of the royals. That sole warrior’s task was to protect King, Queen and heirs, in that specific order. Being that both the King and Queen were dead meant that the duty of the next in line of the elves was to serve the princess. But since the elven was also a child, she first had to be educated and trained in order to have her fully prepared when she turned 16. That was the moment when all elves were ready to graduate from their academy and trained to fight.  
The young elven attended the funeral of the royal family. Her mother and her brother, Rúmil Narmolanya, were also present to mourn their father, who had given great respect to their name by dying while protecting the King and Queen, which was a great honor among their people.  
That day, young Alassё saw the princess for the first time. She noticed her hazel eyes, and how a beautiful face looked so incredibly sad by the mere presence of the tears. Her short brown hair held a tiny crown and her navy blue dress contrasted with her porcelain skin. She looked simply beautiful to Alassё, and that image was something that she was going to keep forever in her mind. That day, at the grave of her father, she swore that she was going to do whatever it took to protect the princess and to never let her cry again.

Sixteen years later she greatly regretted that oath. The day she graduated from the elven academy she was immediately sent to the royal palace. She said her goodbyes to her mother and brother, and she was taken directly to meet the one she had to protect until the day she died, Princess Rachel Duncan.  
Alassё’s hands were sweating. She was extremely anxious to meet the girl whom she was sworn to protect ever since she was born. The image she had of the princess during the funeral had played over and over in her mind during those 16 years of hard training she underwent. She wanted to keep that little girl safe.  
“Wait here, please,” the butler ordered.  
She waited in a room that was the double of her dormitory in the elven academy, but the luxury was quite obvious in this place. Humans were very shallow, as she had learned in the academy, but now she understood why. She caught the sight of a man, probably in his 50’s, approaching her.  
“Hello there. My name is Aldous Leekie, I am the legal guardian of her highness and regent of Dyad.” He extended his hand, but elves did not shake hands, they just bowed. Alassё simply raised an eyebrow. He got the cue and continued his speech.  
“The princess is preparing for a meeting. Allow me take you to her quarters.” Alassё followed Aldous Leekie up a series of stairs and through several passageways until they reached a long hall.  
“This door here leads to your bedroom, and this one right next to you, with the double doors, are the princess’s quarters.” Alassё nodded. The old man knocked the door and a maid opened.  
“Rachel, are you decent? I brought company,” Aldous announced.  
“Very funny, please come in,” The female voice said.  
They walked through another door and there she was. The princess was examning herself in front of a mirror; her hazel eyes had not changed at all, except they were now hard and without warmth. Her hair was still short but now it was blonde. Her thin lips wore a rosy color that emphasized her eyes. She turned around.  
“Rachel, allow me to introduce you to your elven protector, Alassё. She will be your shadow from now on, so try to be nice, okay? I’ll leave you two so you can get to know each other.” Aldous smiled before he left the two of them alone.  
Alassё gulped, her throat suddenly dry. She was seriously nervous, which was odd for her. She was never nervous, she was used to danger. She was trained to be utterly fearless, but this girl before her made Alassё feel weak.  
The princess walked around her, her eyes scrutinizing every detail. She stopped right in front of her.  
“So, you are the elf. What is your name?” She asked with disinterest.  
“Alassё Narmolanya, your highness.” She bowed her head as a sign of respect.  
“Excuse me, what? Do you speak human?” She asked mockingly.  
“Yes my lady, my name in your language would be Sarah, Sarah Manning.” Rachel just stared at her.  
“Well then Sarah, I’d rather not hear elvish around here, do you understand?”  
“Yes, your highness.” The young warrior did not like what she was hearing at all.  
“And make sure that you cover those pointy ears you have, they look weird” Rachel said.  
Alassё, well, Sarah, reached up to touch both of her ears. What was wrong with her ears? She could not understand the request of the young princess, but she did as told, and at least, what she could anyhow. The right side of her hair was braided so she couldn’t cover up that side, so she arranged her hair so it cascaded over the left side of her face, covering her left ear. At least her hair was long enough that she looked like a human if looked from the left side.  
“Well then, make sure that I don’t notice your presence, do I make myself clear?” Rachel looked at her one more time from head to toe.  
“Yes my lady, very clear” Sarah said in a very rude tone, challenging.  
In that moment Sarah knew she made a huge mistake, she did not want to protect this girl, she wanted to strangle her. The girl in front of her didn’t resemble the little girl she wanted to protect ever since that fateful day 13 years ago.  
What a bitch, she thought.  
________________  
Rachel simply raised her eyebrows and smirked, enjoying the situation. This was going to be interesting, making fun of her elven servant, correction, protector. Sarah frowned, her features hard, all kindness gone. She liked the fire she saw in those eyes, she was tired of people doing what she said, she wanted a challenge and she found a very interesting one in Sarah Manning. Who wore all black leather clothes; she had an elven sword hanging from her left hip and a knife on her right ankle, her hands curled into fists. Her long brown hair had golden strands and a portion was braided, her eyes had black shadows which highlighted the color of her eyes, a beautiful golden-brown.  
“Well Sarah, wait outside in the hall, I’ll catch up with you when I’m done here”  
“As you wish, my lady” She bowed once more and left her room. Rachel followed her with her eyes. The way she moved scream all over warrior, strong strides, her hand close to the hilt of her sword, her eyes scanning the area, so sure of her, proud of being elven. That’s how that race was.  
“Daniel?” Rachel called her butler. The man appeared minutes later.  
“What can I do for you your highness?” The man asked curtly.  
“Please prepare the carriage; I am leaving soon to meet the envoy of the fairies.” Daniel bowed, and went to prepare the transport.  
She sighed, even though she was four years away of becoming queen, she still had a lot of obligations, meeting for political reasons was one of them. Her legal guardian, Aldous, told her that it was imperative that she met potential suitors, especially if there was another race involved, which could guarantee more alliances and the control of Leda.  
At 16 she could care less her suitors, but she was going to obey, after all, that was what all of them expected, a submissive good little princess, when in reality she was a ticking bomb, waiting the opportunity to rebel and do what she wanted. In the meantime, she was going to make a living hell the life of Sarah Manning.  
______________  
The travel to the town of Scarborough was as expected, boring; the town was 45 minutes away in horse. The place was known for their quiet and beautiful sceneries. The meeting was going to be held in the house of some friends of her highness. The princess was safe inside the carriage while she rode her horse close enough to act in case it was needed. The sun was hot, and she was already sweating like a pig, when the carriage stopped. The princess got out of her carriage. Sarah, got down of her horse to see what was going on.  
“Excuse me, why are we stopping?” She asked the driver.  
“Her highness told me” Sarah released her breath, this was going to be a pain in the arse.  
“My lady, why are we stopping? We should be at location in 20 more minutes” Sarah tried to be as polite as she could.  
“I am tired, this road hurts my back and I’m thirsty, could you please get me water?” She asked innocently.  
“My lady, you should ask your companion, I can’t get distracted with such chores” Sarah said as calmly as she could.  
“Are you refusing a direct order?” Rachel said.  
Sarah stood quite.  
“My lady I can get it-“ The maid was saying but she got cut off by the princess.  
“Shut up, I am speaking with my elf”  
Sarah rolled her eyes, she counted to ten before giving her next words “As you wish, your highness” She turned around and went to get the damn water for the stupid princess. Rachel smiled in satisfaction. This was going to be so much fun.

Finally they made it to Scarborough; they were met by Mr. Hendrix a friend of the deceased royal couple.  
“Welcome Rachel, wow you are so big now” Mr. Hendrix greeted the princess.  
“Thank you for letting us use this place to meet the envoy of the fairies. By the way how is Alison?” Rachel asked with genuine affection.  
“Oh she went to the north with her mother, you know how she is. Please come in, your guest is waiting” Mr. Hendrix guide them to a spacious living room, where a man probably in his 20’s greeted Rachel. Rachel greeted the man courtly, but it was clear she was not interested. Sarah stood in a corner where she could be invisible but at the same time ready to act in case that weirdo try something funny, which she desperately wanted.  
Sarah was really bored, hearing the stupid things the royals spoke, what really got her on edge was that now and then the princess would look at her, in a way that made her feel exposed. She did not understand the princess, she said she didn’t want to notice her and the next thing is that she stares at her, making her uncomfortable. The meeting went on for a while until the fairy man stood up. Rachel said her goodbyes and that was it. Thank the gods.

Sarah followed the princess back to her carriage, she secured her surroundings and once she gave her nod of approval they moved on. The way back home was silent; at least this time the princess remained inside her carriage minding her own business.  
Sarah was completely taken by surprise by this girl, she was not what she expected, on the contrary, this was the worst that could happen to an elven, but there was nothing she could do. She was bound to her until her last breath. Unless she claimed mercy from her queen, which she could try tomorrow, for now all she wanted was to get back to the castle, take a bath and sleep, because this adventure was only beginning.


	2. Surprise Bitch!

When Sarah woke up, the sun was still a couple of hours away from rising. She put on her running clothes to begin her routine for the day. Ever since she had arrived at the palace, she had done this. Two long years had passed since she started her guardian duties to the worst possible person in the whole world, her Royal Highness Rachel Duncan, future queen of the Dyad Kingdom.

Sarah left her room and walked through the dark and silent halls, down the stairs and straight to the backyard. A couple of soldiers roamed around the area. She nodded to them, but kept walking until she reached the river. She pulled on her hoodie and started to jog. Running not only helped to keep her fit, she also used the activity as a way to unwind her mind. That royal bitch was driving her insane. She was acting more like a servant than a warrior to the princess, and it was a serious pain in the arse. If it weren’t for the quiet times she had in the mornings, she probably would have punched the princess a long time ago.

It was hard to forget the first day she met Rachel, and the memory was simply excruciating. As soon as she returned to the town she remembered going back to her mother for advice.  
“Naneth!” She hugged her mother.  
“Mae g’ovannen! Prestad? Man agoreg?” Her mother had asked.  
“N’um Il. She is a bitch and she hates that I speak Elvish, she hates my ears and she is a snob.” Sarah had responded angrily to her mom.  
“Ielig, watch that language! You know that our family has a duty to the Duncan’s; you can’t let those things get in the way. You are a warrior, and you will honor us by fulfilling your duty. No one said this was easy. Your father sacrificed so much, but he did his job, so you have to be brave.” Her mother had said what she already knew. There was no escape; she was stuck with the Princess for eternity.  
“Gohen nin nana,” She apologized, knowing that her mother couldn’t do anything else; she had to honor her father. That was the only option for her.  
“Gi melin n’um il.” Her mother once again had said how much she loved her.  
“Iston.” Yes, she knew that she did loved her, and that’s why she had to endure. For her mother, for her brother, and for the memory of her father.

She didn’t return to her mother after that day. It was clear that, at 16, a completely adult elf, she had to deal with her own shite. So she never looked back. The 16 long years she spent in the Academy taught her how to fight, how to kill swiftly, to run quickly and climb with dexterity, yet no one had showed her how to deal with a demonic bitch. The princess was awful to her; she had absolutely no idea why she was so focused on making her life a living hell. The princess was polite to everyone but her. It was like she had been cursed by a sorceress to suffer this punishment.

 

Drops of sweat formed on her forehead, her breathing was stuttering and heavy, and her legs were starting to burn, which meant that it was almost time to stop. A couple more laps and she was going to go back to her room to wash and get ready for another horrible day with the princess. If she had survived for two years so far, how difficult could forever be?  
__________  
Rachel was already awake. She couldn’t sleep, even if she wanted to. She hated when she had to travel for political purposes. “It’s for the good of the kingdom!” Aldous had said, and tomorrow she was leaving for Mithrandír, the Elven Kingdom. She was going to establish a new exchange pact with their King, and it was imperative that she started negotiating directly with him, for the sake of her family’s name, even though she was still a kid.

She stood from her bed and put on a robe to cover from the chill of the early morning. Walking to her balcony, the wind blew softly, making her shiver; she crossed her arms to attempt to contain and provide warmth. From the top of the castle she could spot her elf running along the border of the river. She always went to the balcony to see her. It made her heart ache; she was envious of that girl, the simple fact that she could run and be free was something that she secretly wanted. She was a princess. She couldn’t run, she had to be proper; the gods forbid she was sweaty; a princess must be impeccable every hour of the day. And what was the point? There was no one who saw her, the real her, that is. No one except for Sarah Manning.  
She returned to her bedroom and called for her butler. A couple of minutes later the knock on her door alerted her of his presence.  
“Your highness, did you request my presence?” Daniel bowed, short and low.  
“Yes. Please prepare my bath and let Aldous know that I am skipping school today, and please contact Alison and let her know as well. That is all.” Rachel went back to her chambers. There she sat at her desk to review all the parchments that required her signature. She was reading various documents when her maid interrupted to let her know her bath was ready. She walked to her bathroom and took off her nightgown, testing the temperature of the water with her foot. It was warm, just perfect, but she wanted to start her day by pissing off Sarah.  
“Bring the elf to me, and leave my dress ready over my bed,” she said to her maid. The woman bowed and went to look for Sarah.  
___________  
“That is impressive, little elf!” the soldier who was sparring with Sarah said.  
“Bloody hell! I am no small elf, I might grow you know! I am 18!” Sarah ducked and smacked him with the wooden sword on his arm.  
“HA! I don’t know about that, little one.” The soldier lunged forward and made his attack. Sarah blocked and countered with a twist of her body, the point of the sword resting at the soldier’s neck.  
“You were saying?” Sarah just beheaded the guy in practice, which boosted her confidence. The Dyad soldiers could mock her all they wanted, but she always proved them wrong on the battlefield.  
“Excuse me protector, the Princess has requested your presence,” the maid said.  
Sarah sighed. Here we go, she thought. She returned the practice sword to the soldier and went straight back to Rachel’s room. She was still wearing her running hoodie and was fairly worn and sweaty after the sparring session she just had.  
She pushed the double doors open, walked to the bathroom door and knocked.  
“Come in,” she said.  
Sarah entered and awaited instruction from Rachel.  
“Hmm, you should get a bath as soon as possible. You smell like a Northern Copper Sylph, Sarah.” Rachel kept bathing like she just said the most natural thing. Sarah was about to snap back with a comment of her own, but she bit her tongue.  
“I will my lady, what do you need of me?” It was truly incredible that her willpower was substantial enough to stop her from punching the bitch right there.  
“Get ready to leave; we are going to High River today.”  
“Of course.” She was turning around when Rachel spoke again.  
“I am not done, I require something else.” Rachel was smiling a bit, very much enjoying Sarah’s angry face.  
“And that would be?” Sarah asked impatiently.  
“Bring me more hot water, this bath is already getting cold.” Rachel tilted her head a bit, measuring the facial expression of the elven girl.  
“Right away, my lady.” Sarah turned around but right before she left she spat, “Ego, mibo orch!” Yes bitch! You heard me, go kiss an orc!  
“Did you say something, Sarah?” Rachel asked in a low purr.  
“Pedin I phith in aníron, a nin ú-cheniathog,” Sarah said and left to get the damn water.  
Rachel smirked.  
Once she was outside, she had to let her frustration out.  
“GODS DAMN IT! I hate that girl!” She went to the cauldrons to get the hot water for Rachel. As soon as she had the bucket filled, she carried it back. Once she reached the royal chamber, she entered and went to the bathroom.  
“Here it is, my lady.” Sarah waited for her orders.

“You took too long, I got bored.” Suddenly she stood up from the bathtub, her naked body glistening with water. Sarah’s eyes were wide in surprise, her mouth slightly open. It took her a minute to react, and when she had somewhat recovered, she lowered her head and turned around, her face completely red.  
Rachel walked in all her nakedness to grab her towel. Meanwhile, Sarah was flustered.  
“Hurry up Sarah and get clean, I have a lot of things to do.”  
Sarah didn’t waste one more second, and got the hell out of there.  
“Shit, what on earth is wrong with her!?” Sarah was breathing heavily. She did not expected to see her naked, not that it was strange to see a girl’s body. She was used to her peers’ scarred bodies, but to see hers, so smooth and perfect... That was not in her plans. She tried to erase the image from her memories, but for some weird reason she just couldn’t.  
After spending the whole day with Her Royal Bitch and her uptight friend Alison Hendrix in High River town, Sarah was glad to be back in her room, tired and uncomfortable because every time she looked at Rachel she just saw her naked, and that was not okay. At. All. She had no idea why she couldn’t stop thinking about her; it was completely mad. That night she had the worst dream of her life: Rachel on top of her, her naked body gleaming in the moonlight; she lowered her body so slowly, and her hands, gods, her hands felt so soft over her scarred chest, she wanted to cry and then, then she woke up.  
“SHITE!” Sarah was sweating and her breath came out in short, heaving pants. She stood up and went to bathe in cold water; she needed to erase those thoughts from her mind as soon as possible.

Once the sun came out, they were on their way to Mithrandir; King Orodreth was waiting for Princess Rachel. Sarah was escorting her as usual on her horse, while the princess remained in the carriage. Six more soldiers escorted the young heir to the throne. The time to reach the capital city of Mithrandír, Cajaerthyr was two weeks. Traveling there was supposed to be very smooth, but who knew what could happen in that period with the only survivor of the crown of Dyad. There were usually beasts roaming during their previous travels and Sarah did a good job protecting her, so she was confident that their travels would be without a hitch.

They rode the first few days without inconvenience, until they reached the Woods of Harcalen. It was a very dark place, and the only thing that lit the way were the torches they carried nervously.  
Sarah was feeling odd. The silence here too deep for her comfort, so she guided her horse close to the caravan captain.  
“Sir, something is off here. We should stop,” Sarah said to the captain.  
“Don’t worry little elf, we are going to arrive tomorrow at dawn.” The captain simply dismissed her.  
“Sir, I am being serious! There is something wrong here, don’t you hear it?” Sarah insisted.  
“I don’t hear anything little one, keep riding, yes?”  
“Shite, that’s exactly what I’m trying to say, Captain! We are in the middle of the Harcalen Woods, there should be Slaymirror Flayers chirping or at least hear the bellows of Lump Shatterers, but all you hear is silence! WHY. IS. THAT!?” All of a sudden a blue light blinded them for a mere second, and following that flash, all hell broke loose.  
Four Phantomdeath Berserkers appeared; wild beasts with the form of a giant bull, with three eyes and two horns, giant claws and a hell of a lot of sharp teeth. They attacked the first soldiers, killing them by jumping right at them, slashing and tearing them apart. Their roars broke the eerie silence.

Sarah galloped to the first beast and jumped at it, burying her sword deep into him. The screams of the beast were earth shattering, and one more swift movement around the Berserker and she sliced him in half, blood splattering everywhere. Three soldiers were holding back two of the beasts, but the other was vying for the carriage.  
Sarah ran and jumped atop of the carriage. There she caught the beast right before it jumped to attack them. She slashed and cut, but the beast was persistent.

“Get the hell out, Rachel!” Was all she could say before the beast unleashed another savage attack. Rachel was seriously freaked out, but she moved away. She ran deep into the woods. A Berserker saw her and went after her, but the Captain fired a quick arrow at the beast, stopping it in its tracks. Sarah saw that Rachel was alone, so she cut off a paw of the beast and when he fell, she cut his head.  
Sarah mounted her horse and went to find Rachel. The Captain was struggling to keep the beast away, but still gave her time to go for the Princess.  
“Rachel, where are you!?” Sarah screamed, trying to see in the darkness of the woods. She heard a muffled sob off to her left, and she thanked the gods for her awesome hearing. She got off of her horse and looked around the bushes, seeing Rachel crouched near a tree.  
“Hey, don’t worry princess. You are going to be safe.” Rachel ran to Sarah’s arms, Sarah held her tight; she could feel her trembling.  
“Shh... I need you to stay calm, yeah? I’ll get you out of here.” Out of nowhere a Berserker appeared, Sarah wrapped her arms around Rachel and turned to shield her with her body.  
ROOOOOOAAAAAAR  
The beast slashed Sarah’s back, but she was a warrior, that wasn’t going to stop her. She swiftly unsheathed her sword and stood in front of Rachel, looking the beast straight in its eyes.  
“Ego ulunn!” Sarah ordered, but of course the beast would not listen. The monster charged at Sarah, but she was ready. She raised her sword and went for the Berserker, and just before the beast smashed her, she slid under his body, twisted around and stabbed the hideous monster on his underbelly. She took out her dagger from her ankle and climbed on the back of the enraged animal. Once in position, she slit his throat and the beast collapsed. Sarah rolled on the floor, breathing heavily. She felt so tired, but she had to get away from here with the princess. She stood up, straining from the effort.

“Let’s go princess, we have to get out of here!” Sarah took Rachel’s cold hand and led her to her horse. When they finally escaped the wood, they turned back to face it; the sight was one of gore, and no one else had survived. She rushed her steps and helped Rachel to mount her horse.  
“Hold tight princess, we have to ride fast!”  
__________  
Rachel was scared and there was no point in denying that, but having the brave elf with her gave a sense of relief and safety. She held onto her while they rode in the darkness of the woods, her hands feeling Sarah’s heavy breathing, her torn back, which was seeping blood from the wounds, yet she never stopped.  
Only once they were far away did Sarah slow down. She seemed to have trouble breathing, and then she fell from the horse.

“Oh Gods! Sarah?” Rachel got off of the horse, tied it up, and crouched beside Sarah. She moved the wounded girl near a tree as best as she could, the soil beneath her tainted by her blood. She touched Sarah’s sweaty face, so pale and cold. She was wounded pretty bad. Those Berserkers claws were huge.  
“Sarah, stay awake, don’t you dare leave me here. That’s an order!” Rachel tried to piss her off, desperate to see her golden eyes burn with fire, like they always did when she pestered her.  
“Amin feuya ten’lle,” Sarah whispered.  
“Amin uuma malia,” Rachel answered. That brought a wide-eye response from the wounded elf.   
“Wait, you don’t care that I dislike you? Shit… pedil edhellen?” Sarah asked in complete shock.  
“Not exactly, I don’t speak elvish very well, but I can understand most of your daily insults. Surprise, I guess.” Rachel tore part of her dress off to clean the wounds on Sarah’s back.  
Her face was red; she didn’t know if it was the loss of blood, or that Sarah might be embarrassed by the fact that all this time she was feigning ignorance when Sarah insulted her in her mother tongue.  
“Goheno nin Princess, I was out of line.” Sarah finally spoke.  
“No need to apologize, I like it when you’re in lioness mode.” Rachel tried her best to stop the blood, pressing the torn cloth against her fresh wounds. Sarah was so cold now, and she didn’t know if she was going to lose her. That scared her greatly.

Rachel heard some noises but she was unsure what it was exactly. Horses, maybe? Steps, a lot of steps. Sarah was in no condition to fight, so she took Sarah’s dagger and stood up, brandishing the weapon in her hand.  
“Whoever you are, stay away!” She tried to sound fierce, but failed miserably. Another figure appeared, hands open and in the air. It was a girl, an elf. Long brown hair, brown eyes, rosy cheeks.  
“Av-’osto, Princess. You are safe now, put the dagger down,” The girl said.  
Rachel hesitated, but she did as instructed.  
“Hey dipshit, echuio!” The girl kneeled beside Sarah to check her vitals. Sarah opened her eyes again.  
“Elendil? I’m just taking a nap, asshole.” Sarah seemed very familiar with this elf.  
“Yeah, you’re going to live.” The girl stood up and faced the princess.  
“Excuse my bad manners your highness, I am Silmawen Elendil.” She bowed.  
She went to help Sarah stand up, and was supporting part of her weight to make it easier for Sarah to walk.  
“Earlier we felt a magical intrusion nearby, so I was sent to investigate, and I found the mess you left back there, Alassё!” the elf said.  
“It’s Sarah, idiot. We use common language when in presence of her highness,” Sarah explained.  
“Awesome. Sarah Manning.” The elf said with a mocking gesture while laughing, but added, “Actually it sounds more badass in commoner.” She kept laughing.  
“You’re one to talk, Elizabeth Childs.”


	3. The Ties that Bind

Sarah woke up in the infirmary, her chest completely bandaged. She sat up and looked around for her clothes, but they were nowhere to be found.  
“Mellon en amin, relax. Your princess is speaking with our King.” Beth appeared at the entrance, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed before her, hair tied up in a ponytail.  
“Is she okay? “ Sarah asked in serious concern.  
“Yes, you did great. You killed how many Phantomdeath Berserkers?” Beth was curious, killing one was a feat for a human, but two was great by elf standards.  
“A couple, it doesn’t matter. They appeared through a portal, they were summoned to deliberately kill Rachel.” Sarah explained to Beth the weirdness of the events last night. Beth nodded along without interrupting Sarah’s story.

“Like I said last night, we felt it. It was a small tingling in our barrier that warned us in the first place, but it was very subtle. I dare say someone wants your princess dead before coronation.” Beth was very observant and analytical, that’s why, even at her short age of 18, she was one of the top officers in Mithrandír.  
“She is not my princess idiot, stop that!” Sarah was not going to keep feeding her mind with more ideas. It was enough that she had memorized her body and the way she fit between her arms last night to now assume she was hers, and that was a big no.  
“Instead of standing there, go and get me some clothes, yeah?”  
Beth laughed at her friend. “Alright dipshit, I’ll be right back.”

Sarah stood up and walked to the bathroom; she stopped and looked herself in the mirror. Her face was pale, and dark bags hung under her golden-brown eyes. Bandages circled her left bicep and torso.  
“Not bad at all,” she said. She washed her face with the cold water brought from the river, the smells around her so comfortingly familiar. She missed living here, surrounded by nature instead of concrete blocks and lousy company.  
“Here you go.” Beth handed her a new set of clothes, as usual all black leather.  
“When you finish, go to the main hall. Your princess awaits!” Beth said teasingly. Sarah just rolled her eyes, it was best to ignore her.

Sarah arrived to the main hall as instructed; she knocked, and entered the room. The sunlight filtered through the ceiling made of leaves, it was filled with flowers and the sound of birds, and at the center at a large round table she saw Rachel and “Mrs. S! Err, I mean, taerven.”  
“Please come here, love. I spoke with Beth, and this proves my suspicion that it was an attack summoned by warlocks.”  
Sarah approached and took a seat, right beside Beth; Rachel was in front of her, looking regal as ever. Her dark green dress looked stunning on her. Stop Manning, focus! she thought.  
“I suspect that there is someone interested in killing you, Princess. The problem is that we cannot prove the involvement of warlocks, since there is no magic residue to trace the source back,” Mrs. S explained.  
“Taerven, I can protect her, even from warlocks. They will have to do better than that!” Sarah said pretty confident.  
“I know, I trained you to do that, but we are talking about a conspiracy big enough to include high magic level. What I do recommend, princess, is that once you get back home, pay attention to your surroundings. There must be someone at home expecting you to be dead.”  
“I understand Miss Sadler. I shall speak with the warlocks as well, they might offer some insight.” Rachel had her hands laced over the table; she looked so cool and contained no expression of fear or excitement; that was how she managed herself, as a Queen.

“I do recommend that you find allies that can help you with magic, my lady. Warlocks and orcs might have an interest in killing you before you turn 21, when you become Queen.”  
“I thought about fairies, but they rather keep their neutrality than help me. I should try the warlocks first, as a show of good will maybe invite a representative. Thank you Miss Sadler, and I’ll review the documents pertaining our new commerce treaty with the utmost care.” Rachel stood up.  
“Excuse me your grace, may I offer my service as a translator? Besides being the best archer of the region, I am a language expert,” Beth said.  
“Right, language expert, I bet Paul can attest to that.” Sarah was trying to contain the laughter.  
“Dipshit!” Beth countered.  
“Oi! You two stop. The princess has a protector, it would be a waste to send you too,” Mrs. S said.  
“Master, it is already a waste to have me working translating the old archives! Send me to the field where I can be useful. I can be the liaison between the princess and the other races, please.” Beth pleaded.  
“Would you mind having another elf with you, your highness?” Mrs. S finally said, after minutes of thinking.  
“It would be an honor,” Rachel said, and with that she left.

Sarah bowed to her old teacher and followed Rachel. Beth did the same; she was smiling. It was very important for Beth to prove her worth in the real world.  
So the princess of Dyad left in the company of her protector and her new interpreter. The travel back was livelier because Sarah had someone who made her feel more comfortable. Rachel felt fairly awkward between those two; she had no clue what to say, so she instead preferred to keep quiet and observe; she saw a different side of Sarah, one that was more laidback and relaxed. It made her feel a tiny bit of jealousy, but she didn’t care about her laughing and having fun. What she really wanted was to tame the beast; to see her spirit hiss in anger, to see those eyes burn the intensity she liked so much. Because she knew that look was reserved only for her.

 

After weeks of traveling back they arrived at the Royal Palace. Beth’s face was one of complete awe. She was used to the rural setting of her land, but here everything was swankier. Sarah was feeling much stronger after the fight with the horrible beasts.  
Immediately Aldous Leekie came to welcome the princess. He was pretty shocked after Rachel told the news of the attack and how all her escorts died. Leekie was offering different ideas about how to keep Rachel safe, but Sarah immediately intervened.  
“Mr. Leekie, I am more than capable of protecting her. There is no need to keep her inside the castle. If she wants to go to the Black Mountain, we go.” Sarah did not like what he was implying at all.  
“Well, let me invite a representative of the warlocks then, to at least to make me feel less concerned,” Aldous said.  
“All right, do that Aldous. Invite the warlock or sorceress to discuss these matters. Now, I am going to my chambers to rest.” She stood up, and everybody bowed, except Sarah of course, she simply followed. Beth was one step behind, absorbing as much as she could from this new place.

They were going up the stairs when a familiar voice interrupted their path.  
“For the gods Rachel! I heard about the attack, are you okay?” Alison hugged her friend tightly.  
“Yes of course Alison, don’t worry,” Rachel said.  
“Oh!, I see your collection of elves has increased.” Alison was standing in her usual pose, hand resting on her chin, the other across her abdomen, staring curiously at the girl behind Sarah.  
“My glorious lady Alison, allow me to introduce my friend, Elizabeth Childs.” Sarah was teasing the Dyadite.  
“Very funny, Sarah. Hello, Elizabeth.” Alison was staring at the elf, from head to toe.  
“Beth, just Beth.” She said, looking back at the girl with the perfect posture dressed in pink.  
“Nice to meet you Beth. Are you another protector like Sarah?” Alison asked the elf that was armed to the teeth, carrying a quiver with arrows and a short bow on her back. Brown leather pants and boots completed the elven traditional look.  
“No. I am here to serve as a translator, you see. I am an expert in languages and I am here to aid the princess,” Beth said.  
“Really? That is very interesting. I have a play at school where I have to interpret a faerie; do you know how to speak their language?” Alison was seriously interested.

“Oh God, here we go. This is going to take forever Beth, so you go ahead and explain Alison all about the tongue, I’ll see you later,” Sarah said mockingly.  
Beth rolled her eyes, ignoring completely her friend. No one has ever shown interest on her vast knowledge of the different cultures and languages of Leda. It was something really underappreciated within the elves, but it seems that this nice lady was rather interested. She wouldn’t mind talking about it with Alison Hendrix.

Rachel and Sarah disappeared to their chambers, so Alison decided to ask the elf to join her for lunch; after all, it was still early.  
“Would you care to join me, Beth? I would like to know more about those languages.” Alison gave the elf a smile that disarmed completely the elven warrior. Beth smiled back, the tension easing off of her.

They walked through the town and Beth was marveled with the architecture of the place, it was so different from her home, and it was quite beautiful as well. They reached a small cottage where they sat to talk.  
“So Beth, I like to participate in school theatre and this time I have to play a fairie, but in order to make it more convincing it is necessary to speak their language. Do you think you can help me?” Alison ordered a cup of tea.  
“Yes, Lady Hendrix, I would love to. Faerie language is interesting and beautiful, it’s quite elegant. For example, if I want to introduce myself, I would say Syl tira wa Beth!” Beth simply explained with joy.  
“Please, you can call me Alison. There’s no need for formalities, Beth. And you have a great pronunciation.” Alison took a small sip of the beverage that was brought to her table. Beth was completely distracted by her lips; how they touched the cup and how elegant and precise her movements were. She never thought she was going to ever marvel at such a simple task.  
“Beth?” Alison asked.  
“Eh? Yes, sorry I was distracted. Aura wyl means thank you.” Beth was blushing, which was completely ridiculous. She was usually so disciplined. She had no idea why she was acting like this.  
“Do you think we can arrange a schedule so you can help me practice? I have a couple of months to prepare for the part and I would love your help, Beth.” Alison gave her another smile, a bit shy, but nonetheless a smile.

“Yes, I can teach you faerie; also elvish if you want. Did you know your name means noble birth? It would be Nostariel but if I said for example, Ali, the meaning would change to sublime, Tauredhiel.” Beth was so excited that she forgot that she just met the girl.  
“Sorry, if I made you bored” she said in apology.  
“No, not at all, it was quite interesting. Ali for sublime? I feel rather sublime, I like it!”  
“You do?” Beth raised her eyebrows.  
“Yes, very much. I think we’re going to get along really well, Beth.”  
“I think so too, Ali.” Beth couldn’t stop smiling at the girl, for some reason she felt compelled by her. Maybe it was the pink. She had never seen so much pink, or maybe it was something else?

 

Back in Rachel’s room, the Princess was reading and reviewing the final proposal to make the new pact with the elven people while Sarah simply stood in the darkest corner of her room, watching.  
“You could sit down, you know?” Rachel said while reading the parchments. She didn’t need to look back to know where the elf was, she always knew.  
“No thank you, your highness.” Sarah preferred to be on her feet, especially now that there were magic users involved on the latest attempt to kill her.  
“No one is going to attack now, Sarah. Sit down!” Her voice a bit more strong, indicating the order. As usual, Sarah rolled her eyes. She hated when she used her authority to make her do things. She walked to the nearest chair and sat, her legs spread and her back a bit hunched.

“Now tell me, what do you think of the current situation?” Rachel could be the coldest bitch on earth, but she wasn’t stupid.  
“Someone from the palace must have told the warlock where to release the beasts. I mean, not many knew the route: Daniel buttface, creepy Leekie –“  
“You.” Rachel cut Sarah off and stared into her gold-brown eyes.  
“What!? Are you effing serious? Me?” Sarah was outraged at the thought of being her the guilty party. Rachel stood up and walked where she was seated, leaning in, her face inches apart from Sarah’s, so close that she could feel her breath.  
“Come on Sarah, don’t you hate me? Wouldn’t it be nice if you just got me killed?” Rachel didn’t falter, her tone dead serious.  
“Bloody hell Rachel! if I wanted you dead I would have done it myself! Trust me on that.” Sarah held Rachel’s gaze, there was something in her eyes that was alive, not cold like usual. Sarah gulped; she was getting very uncomfortable, again. She made her feel vulnerable, and she really hated that.

Rachel gave her a lopsided smile. “Good to know, Sarah. You’re right, we have a traitor.” Rachel pulled back, and Sarah exhaled in relief. Rachel returned to her duties while Sarah stood up again and moved as far away as she could.  
“It would be interesting to hear what this warlock representative has to say. I have also sent a message to the Faeries, as we cannot out rule the possibility of their involvement as well. Those two groups have the only magic users of Leda, and one of them wants me out. Why?”  
“Because you are a bitch!” Sarah whispered.  
Rachel laughed, she knew her so well that she had imagined what her words to her were.  
“My lioness, what I am going to do when I find someone else to entertain me?”  
Sarah kept silent. She had no idea why she couldn’t respond, and she was supposed to say that she was eager for that day, that she was counting the days when the demon bitch found a husband and she forgot about her. She still was obliged to protect her, but at least she wouldn’t be her target.  
She couldn’t say it.  
Shit Sarah, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you so used to her royal bitchiness that you rather have her attention on you forever?  
That annoying inner voice said, Yes.


	4. The Thin Line Between Love and Hate

Sarah could not deny that she was a bit jealous of Beth and Alison’s friendship; it was like they had this instant connection when they met just a few weeks ago and now they couldn’t be apart. During school time, Beth and Sarah would hang out together while Alison and Rachel attended their classes. They would sit and talk most of the time about battles, weapons, and of course, their lady friends.

“No seriously, Beth! How can you stand being with Alison even during theatre practice? Don’t you get tired of her intensity?” Sarah was sharpening her dagger. She always took good care of her weapons, and always had them ready for battle.  
“No, Ali is really dedicated and I admire her for that. She has such a passion for performing that it’s a joy to see her act.” Beth glowed when she spoke of her friend.  
“Bleh! You’re into her, Childs, admit it!” Sarah kept working with her dagger, raising her stare once or twice just to check on her demon bitch princess.  
“You jealous, dipshit? Ali is really awesome, and a great actress!” Beth exclaimed.  
“Nah, I don’t know who is the worst bitch between those two, but her acting isn’t bad, I’ll give her that” Sarah replied.

The bells announced the end of classes for the day. The two elven girls stopped their conversation and went to meet their human friends.  
“Beth, could you please help me with the dialogue today? I will stay in my dorm room instead of going to the theatre.” Alison asked, her expression tight and stressed.  
“Sure, but I thought you were more than ready Ali.” Beth was a bit worried, she didn’t like to see Alison so tense.

“It’s just that this other girl, Aynsley Norris, is suddenly auditioning for the same role as well! How dare she!?” Alison now was beyond tense, her hand resting on her temple. Beth stepped closer to her, putting her hand on her shoulder to provide support.  
“Don’t worry, you are going to be perfect! You have practiced so much that there’s no way that you’re going to fail that audition, Ali.” Beth felt the tension on her friends muscles, so she walked behind her and put both hands over her back. She started to apply a mild pressure, massaging the nape of her neck.

“Well, it seems you two are going to be very busy. I have things to do. If you need anything, talk with Daniel.” Rachel kept going to her carriage after waving goodbye to Alison; Sarah walked behind her while Beth and Alison stood in the middle of the hall.  
Alison exhaled slowly, her body more at ease. Beth’s hands felt like magic, and when she removed them Alison suddenly felt her back become much colder.  
“Better?” Beth asked in concern. Alison nodded; she was too flustered to speak, so she took her things and went back to her dorm to do practice with Beth.  
__________  
The travel back home was quick, and once they arrived at the palace Rachel walked straight to the main hall to speak with Aldous. The situation regarding the portal was unresolved and there were other matters that require her attention.  
Once inside the main hall, they found Aldous seated at a regal desk, shuffling through some documents. Rachel approached him while Sarah remained at distance.

“Did you make contact with the warlocks?” Rachel took a seat beside the man.  
“Yes, I sent a pigeon and we should get a response in a matter of days.” He kept working, without looking the young heiress in the eye.  
“I have heard rumors about problems in the Northern mines. Why have I not been informed of them?” She put her hand over the parchments, interrupting what Aldous was doing. Only then did he look at her.  
“Rachel, you are still young. You shouldn’t be worried about mines, leave that to me.” He tried to dismiss her, but she refused to surrender.

“I am going to be Queen in three years. Everything that occurs in my kingdom concerns me, Aldous.” She said in that business voice of hers that Sarah was so accustomed to.  
“There are rumors of monsters, but like I said, that’s what they are. I am not going to send soldiers when we don’t know if you’re at risk.” Aldous was getting a bit impatient.  
“I am going to deal with this personally, do you understand?” She stated, and didn’t wait for a response; she simply stood up and went back to her room. That was the type of woman she was. Once she made a decision, she dealt with it. It was more than clear that ruling was in her blood.

Sarah couldn’t avoid asking about her sudden decision. It was risky, she had to give that to Aldous, and right now was not the moment to play Queen.  
“Rachel, er, my lady, I mean, Leekie is right, this is not the best time to go to the North.” Sarah now walked much closer, close enough that she could smell her perfume.  
“Maybe, but aren’t you curious about the sudden monster appearances on the borders?” They arrived at the stairs that led to her room. Up they went, moving through the halls until they reached her doors.  
“Yes, it is very odd that marshlands monsters are trespassing the borderline, even with barriers, but that is not something you should do personally. Send a team and wait.” Sarah closed the double doors and checked the room as usual.  
Rachel got into her bedroom and started to undress. Sarah stood outside while she changed. “You said yourself that we couldn’t trust our own people, so I have to do it in order to find if we really have a traitor among us.” Sarah had to give her that. Right now everything pointed to her closest circle.  
“Could you be useful and help me with this?” Rachel used the tone that meant trouble. Sarah walked inside her room to find her with a new dress, except that it was completely untied in the back, revealing her skin.

“You should call your maids, you have plenty, I don’t know what to do.” Sarah tried to sound reasonable, she could tie the dress perfectly, but she didn’t trust herself do it without losing more sleep because of the damn princess, and Rachel knew it. She gave her a small smile, batting her eyelashes in that seductive way of hers, and then said, “A task so simple that you can’t, or won’t do, Sarah?” There she was, all royally bitchy about it. Sarah approached, and Rachel turned around. She was close enough, so she took in the laces of the dress in her hands, and started working on them, tying them in a criss-cross pattern on her back. Every time her knuckles brushed her skin she burned, her eyes scanning and memorizing the freckles on her smooth back. She could almost trace patterns with each birthmark on her, and she wanted so badly to trace them with her finger that she was afraid that she would lose control. Thank the gods she was done. Sarah took two steps back.  
“There you go,” Sarah said in relief.  
“See? You are very useful elf, not bad at all.” Rachel sat in front of her mirror and started to comb her hair. Her dark green dress hugged her hips and the V-shape of her cleavage revealed enough to raise at least an eyebrow. Sarah stared at her, her eyes lost, mind in dreamland. Rachel caught Sarah’s reflection, she smiled in contempt.  
“Do you like it?” Rachel asked while she applied make up.  
“Wha’?” Sarah blinked, returning to reality, “Yeah, it’s fancy. Where are we going?” she added.  
“I am going to meet Lord Duval, as Aldous recommended.”  
“Olivier? That guy is a complete wanker, why would Leekie recommend him?” Sarah was not happy to hear that news, as she had heard that this Lord managed a club where illegal activities occurred frequently.  
“Exactly. He has certain power. if I can manage to have him on my side, no one will question my authority.” As always, Rachel made her decisions politically. This would be a power play that could give her absolute control of the loyalties of her people.  
“You are willing to marry this Lord just to send a message to those who doubt your leadership? Hell no!” Sarah was against it, she couldn’t believe that she was going to take this so far.

Rachel stood up and pushed Sarah against the wall, the move totally unexpected by the elven warrior, who was agape. Rachel was so damn close; her heart was about to explode. The pressure of her hands were strong and Sarah tried to remain still, but the fighter in her yelled to push her away, but she was afraid to hurt her, and she found herself not quite wanting to either.  
“You will not tell me what to do, elf. Do I make myself clear?” She whispered in her ear, her hot breath sending shivers of excitement down Sarah’s spine, which was completely wrong. Sarah gulped and pushed the princess away, not of fear of her, but of fear of what she was thinking of doing to her, which included tearing that dress into pieces.  
“Very clear, your grace,” Sarah said and walked away, leaving Rachel with a smirk on her face. How the princess loved to make the elf miserable, but what she liked the most was how things got rough between them. She was the only one who didn’t put up with her shite, and that make her feel very good.  
___________  
Lord Duval arrived on time; he wore a black cape on top of his white shirt, his black trousers covered by long boots. He made a reverent comment and kissed the hand of the princess. Sarah simply watched from afar in disgust. She was dying to stab the Lord to make him keep his hands to himself, and her left hand resting on the hilt of her sword, just in case.  
Thank the gods they were on the palace gardens, which meant that there were soldiers to watch over the princess so Sarah could keep away from her. Alison and Beth were also nearby, practicing near the river, so Sarah walked towards them.  
Beth sat under the long shadow of a tall tree while Alison recited her lines in front of her.  
“I am not worthy of your love my lord, but I shall accept it.” Alison mimicked the movements of the character and sat on a bench.  
“All right, now the Lord sits beside you and holds your hands, he says his lines and then you go.” Beth instructed Alison, following her own copy of the script.  
“Wyl’rin asha, my lord“ Alison tried to say the faerie phrase, but the pronunciation was wrong.  
Sarah started to laugh; she fell to the grass right beside Beth.  
“That is awful, no wonder Norris is going for the role!” Sarah kept laughing. Beth elbowed her in the ribs.  
“Dipshit, you are an ass! Alison is paranoid enough for you to ruin it with your foul comments!” Beth said, rather annoyed.  
“Hey, just joking. Gimme that!” Sarah took the script from Beth and said, “Go Beth, be the Lord, you already know the lines. She needs more realism.”  
“Okay Ali, I think we can do that. Remember, you’re a faerie in love with a human, which is completely taboo. You’re going to tell him how you feel, and the pronunciation must be perfect and on time with your loving tears, so get ready.” Beth stood in one area of the garden, while Alison stood in the other.  
“Action!” Sarah said loudly, containing her laughter as much as she could.  
“My faerie, I cannot be with you. We are so different, yet I feel so connected with you. Please be with me, my sweet faerie!” Beth said trying to emulate a masculine voice.  
Alison walked towards Beth. “I am not worthy of your love my lord, but I shall accept it.” She sat primly on the bench, and Beth sat beside her. Sarah raised an eyebrow when she saw that Beth took Alison’s hands in hers.  
“I will forever be grateful, my beautiful fae.” Beth was gradually getting closer to Alison, perhaps a bit too close.  
Alison smiled, tears of joy flowing from her brown eyes. “Wyl’rin asha, my lord.”  
Sarah stopped laughing. The seriousness of the scene was too much, and it felt real to her, until Beth laughed,breaking the magic of the moment.  
“No Ali, it sounds weird, but your acting is flawless, as always.” Beth wiped away the tears with her thumb, smiling. “Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll stop at your dorm to practice that with you.”  
Alison exhaled in frustration. “I need this to be perfect, Beth! Aynsley isn’t going to give up so easily.”  
“That was effing awesome!” A skinny boy with black hair covering his eyes and wearing black clothes came walking up towards the three girls.  
“Hey Fee, what’s up with you? Why aren’t you at school or training?” Sarah asked her little brother, who was the next in line to protect the princess in case she died.  
“I hurt my ankle in practice and I was supposed to rest today, but I know that these two were practicing here, so I came here!” The boy chirped.  
“You too are into this shit? Bloody hell, Felix!” Sarah groaned in frustration.  
“Oh, if it’s none other than my future protector.” Rachel appeared from the east of the garden, walking alone, which meant that Lord Duval had been dismissed.  
“Maybe I should get rid of Sarah to try you out,” Rachel said and Sarah exploded, she took her dagger out and charged at Rachel, pushing her against the tree with the dagger against her neck. Alison’s face was of utter horror and Beth lunged to remove Sarah, praying to the Gods nobody saw the direct threat to their princess.  
“You are not going to touch my brother!” Sarah spat in rage, pressing the dagger to her neck and drawing a few drops of blood. Beth tried to calm Sarah to no avail.  
“Damn it Sarah, put the dagger away! Someone will see you and then you’re going to be in deep shit.” Beth tried to make her come to her senses, but she was furious.  
“Or what?” Rachel defied the elf.  
Beth was horrified by Rachel’s behavior. Instead of making amends she was adding fuel to the fire.  
“You will pay, princess!” Sarah was about to lose it.  
“Make. Me.” Rachel shot back.  
“Okay, that’s it you two!!” Beth pulled the dagger as hard as she could and pushed Sarah away.   
Alison went to talk to Sarah to calm her down while Beth stood with Rachel.  
“My lady, you are playing with fire by testing Sarah like that.” Beth tried to put some sense into the princess.  
“I know, that’s why I like her so much.” She traced her fingers over her neck, when she looked at them they were stained in red. She smiled happily.


	5. Welcome to the trip man

Next morning when Sarah stirred in her bed, feeling horrible, she knew she had messed up completely. If there had been soldiers, or maids around the gardens when she threatened Princess Rachel, she would have ended up locked in the dungeons. It was like the damn bitch knew which buttons to push, and exactly when. Why she couldn’t control herself around her was a major problem.

She got out of bed, pulling her white linen shirt over her head and heading straight for the wooden tub on the other side of her room; the water was cold of course, she was no royalty. At first contact with the water she shivered, but her body adapted to the temperature. It was still early in the morning; she could have gone for a run, but she knew that wasn’t going to help her today. She let her body relax and she closed her eyes, enjoying the silence when minutes later she heard footsteps. She opened her eyes, and to her surprise Rachel Duncan of all people was standing in her bathroom, wearing blue pants with black boots, a black linen sweater and a cobalt scarf, probably to hide the cut that Sarah had sliced into her yesterday.

“I sometimes forget you have better hearing than us, you certainly heard my surprise,” Rachel said in her usual tones, but Rachel didn’t seem pissed off.  
“I am not apologizing.” Was the first thing that came to her mind, so she said it.  
“I am not asking for you apologies. Get out, get dressed, and meet me at the entrance, we are leaving for the North.” She turned around and left.  
Sarah finished her quick bath. Once she was dry, she put on her clothes, sheathed her sword and dagger and went downstairs to the main entrance. She saw that there were only two horses, her black mare and a white one. Sarah frowned, wondering where the carriage was.  
“Looking for something?” Rachel asked.  
“My lady’s carriage and escorts, where are they?” Sarah was baffled.  
“This is a quick trip, I don’t need more people to slow it down. Besides, Alison requested Beth for her practice, so that leaves you and me.” Rachel walked towards her horse and checked her equipment.  
“And you know how to ride, your grace?” Sarah asked teasingly, trying to hide her mocking smile; she had never seen the young princess ride any type of animal, much less a horse.  
In response Rachel straddled the horse with dexterity, her legs poised on the animal. “I am a hell of a rider, and I can ride all. Night. Long.” She said in her most sensual voice ever, raised an eyebrow at Sarah, then gave the horse a small nip with her heel and rode away.  
Sarah froze. The way Rachel had said it made it sound completely inappropriate; her initial effort to make her feel bad had backfired. In return, Sarah started to create mental images of Rachel riding not an animal, but her. Shit, abort, Manning, abort right now, this is bad. She straddled her horse and followed after Rachel.

The ride took most of the day. They stopped a few times to rest and drink water, but during the trip they barely spoke to each other. It was awkward, but at least they weren’t at each other’s throats. The mines were close now, and the sun was setting on the horizon. They got off their horses and hitched them. It was better to walk from where they were to the mines. Sarah took the lead, observing her surroundings.  
“Something is wrong,” Sarah said.  
“It’s quiet,” Rachel replied.  
They kept walking down the rocky road, the silence deafening. Sarah unsheathed her sword, her steps more cautious now. She turned around to signal Rachel to be silent and wait. She entered the first cave; there was mine equipment on the floor, scattered as if it had been left in a hurry. The farther Sarah walked into the cave the darker it got. Not a soul was around, it was completely abandoned. She traced her steps back to the exit.  
“It’s empty, looks like people left in a hurry,” Sarah said to a worried Rachel.  
“I took a look around, the barrier is completely damaged, burnt to ashes,” Rachel commented.  
“Okay, let’s go check the other mines, there must be clues.” Sarah moved forward to the next set of caves with Rachel. They found more empty tools left behind, but nothing that explained what really happened here. Sarah kneeled and examined a set of prints left on it.  
“We have human and animal prints, they dispersed near the exit, but these other ones are going in.”  
“What kind of animal are we talking about?” Rachel didn’t like this at all.  
“Not sure, might be a hunter beast, or worse.” Sarah did not want to think about the other options; they were going to have a huge problem if there were other beasts roaming around.

They walked inside the mine, deeper into the darkness, when the smell hit them.  
“Bloody hell, what the fuck is this?” Sarah covered her nose, trying to ease the discomfort.  
“Oh gods, this is awful!” Rachel used her scarf to cover her face.  
They kept walking down the mine, the only sound around them being the dripping of water and their breaths echoing through the tunnels. Sarah lit a torch that she found on the floor and continued walking in the total dark when she stopped abruptly.  
“Shite!” In front of her was a pool of blood and bones, the walls were splattered crimson. It seemed that the slaughter had occurred right on this spot.  
“We need to get the hell out of here Rachel! NOW!” Sarah turned around and took Rachel’s hand pulling her as far away as she could; they ran as fast as possible when they reached the exit.  
What does this mean?” Rachel asked, trying to recover her breath.  
“We need to burn the place; there were symbols on the wall written with blood. Dark magic was done in this place, but demon hounds are responsible for the remains of the people.” Sarah was breathless from their sprinting.

“If they performed a summoning here, that means the barrier magic protection must be weak or worse, gone.” Rachel concluded. Sarah nodded in agreement.  
The situation was extremely bad. Only the magic barrier kept away the beasts from the marshlands, but if that protection was gone, then it meant that they were vulnerable.  
They were discussing how to approach the situation when Sarah caught a shadow in the corner of her eye.  
“Oi! Stop!” Sarah ran after the shadow, with Rachel following. The sun was almost gone; the light being replaced by darkness. Sarah saw the mysterious figure take a turn, but instead of following, Sarah saw a chance to cut through their path. She climbed the slope quickly, and when she was on top of the hill she saw the elusive person that was being followed by Rachel, and she jumped.  
“Don’t move!” Sarah pointed her sword towards the girl, no, faerie.  
The faerie raised her hands in surrender. “Faena, tir lin!” she said.  
“Shit, where the hell is Beth when you need her?”  
______________  
“Beth, this isn’t working, I’m going to fail!” Alison said with teary eyes. She was seated on her bed, pouting.  
“Ali, we’ve worked on it a lot, trust me, it’s great. You are going to be marvelous.” Beth tried to comfort her, but Alison always aimed for perfect, and nothing less. She had no idea what to do. She sat beside her, caressing her soft hair reassuringly.  
“Look at me, Ali. Do as I do, okay? Your accent is really good, you just need to work how you put your lips.” Beth explained a couple of things and then she showed Alison how to do it.  
“Just put your lips like when you say YOU, see the roundness? That’s how you do it.” Alison mimicked the elf, but instead she made Beth laugh.  
“You are not rounding your lips enough, here.” Beth pressed the corners of Alison’s mouth with her thumb and index to make it more round.  
“Now, try it.” Alison did as instructed.  
“Yes, much better!” Beth inadvertently became so close to Alison, with her hand was still on her face. Instead of pressing her cheeks, she was caressing her jaw. Alison noticed the proximity as well, looking at Beth’s chapped lips and licking her own in response, and then staring into the depth of Beth’s eyes.

Alison closed the gap between them in a second, her lips over the elf’s. Beth was surprised, not because she didn’t want her, but that it was Alison who made the move.  
Beth deepened the kiss, holding the nape of her neck, increasing the pressure and intensity of the kiss. Her other hand caressed her back, pulling Alison towards her, until the need to be physically with each other was beyond what they could bare.  
Soon they were lying on the bed. Beth took a moment to look at Alison, to make sure that what was going to happen was wanted by both of them. Alison cupped her cheek and smiled. Beth smiled as well and kissed her, tracing small kisses along her jawline to her neck. Alison’s hands were desperate to feel Beth’s skin, and she broke the kiss to remove her leather vest. Alison did the same, removing her light blue dress, her surcoat, and her corset.  
“For the Gods, how many clothes do you have on?” Beth was so desperate that the wait was killing her.  
“Just one second, Beth! You are extremely impatient,” Alison scolded.  
“Because you drive me crazy, Ali.” Beth removed the pins holding Alison’s hair up. When the long brown hair cascaded over Alison’s shoulders, Beth had to remember how to breathe. She kissed her and pushed her softly into the bed.  
Hands and legs tangled in a dance of passion until both ended, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.  
“Next time I am binding your hands Ali, who was the impatient one now? Eh?” Beth cradled Alison in her arms, dropping tiny kisses on her forehead.  
“Fine, next time you’re in charge, I promise,” Alison said yawning, fatigue claiming her.  
“Next time? I’ll be sure to bring the handcuffs.” Beth closed her eyes with the biggest smile on her face.  
_____________  
“What are you saying?” Sarah furrowed her brows. She had no idea what the weird faerie was saying.  
“Whoa, dude! Chill, okay?” The faerie exclaimed.  
“Who are you?” Rachel asked pointedly.  
“Hi, this is really awkward; could you lower your dagger, elf? I’m Cosima. I came to research the strange magic bursts in the last months,” the faerie said.  
“Months? Really? We thought this was recent!” Rachel commented.  
“Hell no, dude! These have been occurring for a long time. I was sent here to find information, ‘cos I’m a researcher. I study anomalies and shit.”  
“Are you for real?” Sarah took a harder look at the faerie. Wearing black rims around her eyes and sporting dreadlocks, the way she talked with her hands was weird but what was even weirder was following what she was really saying.  
“Sarah, let her explain.” Rachel seemed to understand what the weirdo was talking about much better than Sarah did.  
“Listen man, this is hella strange. We detected short, irregular outbursts of magic in this area for a while now, really dark magic, dude and…”  
Howling echoed in the distance, interrupting Cosima’s explanation.

“What on earth is that?” Rachel looked at the faerie.  
“Oh shit, hellhounds, they like to hunt at night you know!” Cosima said, rather amused “Also, they have this keen sense of smell, and-“  
“Okay, we need to get out of here, NOW!” Rachel ran straight to the tree where there horses were.  
“Come on, we have to go.” Sarah pulled Cosima with her.  
The three girls ran, the sounds of paws and snarls pounding behind them. Unluckily, the beasts soon caught up with them. “Rachel, stay behind me.” Sarah unsheathed her sword and dagger. “As soon as you see a clear space, get out.” Red eyes were circling them and preparing to attack. “I don’t think so! What kind of ruler would I be if I didn’t fight for my people?” Rachel took out a short sword.  
“We are in deep shit.” Sarah took a small step forward, getting ready for the attack.  
“Welcome to the trip, man!” Cosima retorted.  
“That’s not helpful,” Sarah interrupted the faerie. “Is that your weapon?”  
“Dude, I’m a faerie. We sorta use magic, so we don’t rely on heavy weapons. This staff helps me to focus my magic, but I kinda suck at that too. But hey, I am really good at research”  
“Are you kidding?” Sarah rolled her eyes; this was going to be bad.

At once the demon beasts jumped, Sarah moved fast and slashed and sliced.  
Cosima threw fire balls here and there, and Rachel stabbed and sliced, holding her own in the battle.  
A hound bit Sarah’s leg, causing her lose her balance. Cosima threw a fireball and the hound roared in agony. Another jumped at Rachel, throwing her at the floor, its claws digging into her shoulder. Sarah ran and threw herself at the animal to pry it away from Rachel, and with her dagger, she slit its throat. Cosima helped Rachel to get up and Sarah was already quickly following behind, the adrenaline pumping through her blood keeping the pain at bay.  
“There are more around, we have to go now!” Cosima ran, Rachel and Sarah coming right behind her.  
“Cosima, take this horse. Sarah and I will ride this one.” Rachel held the reins to make it easier for Sarah to straddle the horse. Once Sarah was in position, she got up as well.  
“Alright, let’s go!”

After getting as far away as they could from the dark magic zone, they stopped. The temperature dropped and quickly got cold.  
“We need to set camp here.” Sarah was sweating and her leg hurt a lot.  
“I got the fire, dude, and I’ll get us some food. I will protect this zone with some magic wards as well, but it’ll take me a while.” Cosima went to pick up wood and hunt for food.  
“Alright, I’ll set the camp. My lady could you gather some water, please?” Sarah took out their equipment and assembled their camp while Rachel went to the small creek to fill their water.  
After some time, the camp was ready. Cosima set the fire with magic and she brought a rabbit, which was being cooked as they warmed by the pit and tended to their injuries.  
“Dude, er, Sarah, you need help with that leg? I can try a healing spell if you want.” Cosima had almost burned the rabbit with her fire, so Sarah quickly denied the help. Sarah glanced at Rachel’s shoulder and saw the dark spot staining her clothes.  
“I’m sorry you had to use your sword, my lady” Sarah took Rachel’s hands and felt their softness. Her hands were not meant for fighting, completely unlike hers, ridden by calluses from her training and weaponry use.  
“I am fine. We need to take care of this first, and then we go to rest, it’s been a very difficult day.” Rachel stood up and went to the tent to wash her wound.  
“Whoa, my lady? Who exactly is the blonde?” Cosima tilted her head.  
“Rachel Duncan I, future Queen, Ruler of Leda, Princess of Dyad.”  
“Shit!” Cosima said.  
“Yeah, shit.” Sarah went to look up for Rachel. She couldn’t risk her more than she did today.  
Cosima was pretty tired, so she climbed inside one of the tents. Sarah found the princess in the other, almost finished with cleaning her wound.  
“Here, let me put the bandage on.” Sarah helped to cover the cuts on her shoulder.  
“Sleep with me,” Rachel said suddenly.  
“Ah, sleep, right, yeah.” Sarah nodded, she could do that. It was just sharing the tent, no big deal.

They shifted around, and Sarah began to tend to her leg wounds.  
“Great, this is probably going to leave a mark as well; I’m going to end like a fuckin’ map if this keeps going. I need to stop collecting scars, damn it!” She bandaged her leg and walked over to the other side of the tent, where she found Rachel curled in her blankets, which probably a hard feat for the Princess, who was used to her luxurious commodities.  
Sarah removed her leather vest, but kept her linen shirt; she put her boots off to the side and lay down. Her eyes closed. Hmm, I feel warm and, what the- she opened her eyes. Rachel was leaning on her, profoundly asleep. Her arm was starting to cramp, but she didn’t dare to move. She desperately wanted to hold her, but she restrained her desires. This was the most she was going to get, and it was fine with her. There was no hope for an elf and a human, much less a princess, so she accepted her fate. She smiled contently and closed her eyes. At least in her dreams she could do whatever she wanted. Reality could wait.


	6. Cruel Intentions

The trip back home was much livelier than expected. The faerie was a talker, and although her ramblings were confusing, it was fun to see how on earth she could ride the horse while not holding the reins. Her hands just couldn’t keep still.  
The trio stopped at a tavern to eat and rest. Sarah’s wound was still bleeding, so they couldn’t go nearly as fast as they wanted. Cosima insisted on healing her, but Sarah doubted her crazy magic, so instead she used herbs and ointments. Since they didn’t want to call much attention to themselves, Rachel wore a hoodie, but being an elf, a human and a faerie together was going to be quite difficult, especially if the princess was identified.

They sat at the farthest table, ordering food and wine. It was a cold day, and they needed to regain their strength. Everything was going smoothly until of course, trouble arose. Drunkards on a table nearby started catcalling at the girls.  
“Hey fae, nice boobs! Wanna make kids with me?” a bearded man yelled and his other companions laughed with him.  
Cosima just gave them a look that screamed for them to go fuck themselves. Sarah tried to keep her composure, it was important to keep on the down low. But the drunkards were insisting in their terrible comments.  
“Oh come on Fae, you’re hotter than the elf, join us!” A dark skinned man said.  
Sarah was crushing her spoon, her patience running out. Cosima simply rolled her eyes and kept sipping her wine.  
“Forget about the Fae, what about the blondie? Come on sweetheart, want to ride this beast?” Another man made gestures towards his groin.  
And as they say, the third time’s the charm. Sarah got up faster than lighting and punched the man, and a couple of teeth flew into the distance. Immediately after the other two reacted and the mayhem ensued.

Sarah kicked and punched the men; other people got into the fight as well, and chairs flew everywhere. Cosima just burned the ones that were coming in her direction with tiny fireballs while she kept sipping wine.  
A huge man, much taller than the elf, grabbed Sarah by her collar and punched her in the stomach. She fell to her knees, coughing, and barely managed to say, “A little help here, Cos?” before the bigger man tried to smash a table over her head. Rolling to her left side, she somersaulted on top of another table, and from there she kicked the head of the enormous man, who fell unconscious to the floor. Sarah did a cartwheel without her hands and landed perfectly on the floor to keep fighting.  
“Dude, you’re a total show off!” Cosima stood up and joined the fight, while Rachel simply watched the swift moves of her protector. She probably thought that if she moved like that while fighting, what moves could she pull in bed ? That brought a smile to her face. This was so much fun.  
Cosima ducked an attacker and smacked him with her staff; Sarah was now back to back with Cosima, the duo in synch kicking the living shite of the whole tavern until there were no men who dare to challenge them, or were already unconscious on the floor.

“Oh my gods, what is this disaster!?” An older woman came out from the back, holding her head in disbelief. “Who is going to take responsibility of this mess?!” The woman was on the verge of crying.  
Rachel stood up and took off her hoodie, walking towards the older woman. “My name is Rachel Duncan, and we are going to come to terms.”  
And to terms, they came, or else Sarah and Cosima would have had to stay to fix the huge mess of a tavern.  
“That wasn’t bad at all, Cosima,” Sarah said honestly. Never before had she thought that a faerie could fight hand to hand as well as she did.  
Cosima shrugged. “I do what I can.”  
It was amazing how fast these two had bonded; one day and they were already treating each other like sisters.

 

When they finally got back to the palace Rachel requested a private meeting with Aldous and the faerie, Cosima Niehaus. The situation was worrisome; they had no idea how their magic barrier had been damaged, allowing the dark magic rituals to take place in the mines. Besides the death of Dyad citizens, this situation required extreme measures.  
“We saw the hounds, Aldous! Don’t tell me to calm down!” Rachel slammed her palms against the table in frustration. “How has no one noticed the barrier was damaged and that people were missing? What the hell have you been doing?! You are supposed to oversee these things, but if you can’t, then we better propose to elect a new regent in your place.” Rachel glared at Aldous right into his eyes, in defiance.  
“Rachel, you are too young to deal with these matters! Let me handle it. I will fix the barrier and cleanse the area of hounds. I’m going to increase the security on our borders, and we are going to solve this, no need to be so extreme.” Aldous explained calmly.  
Cosima furrowed her brows, her mind analyzing the situation. “Mr. Leekie, that still does not solve the dark magic, we felt the disturbance up to the Magical Forest. Whoever did this has a lot of power, and you cannot dismiss this like some minor event!” Cosima tilted her head, her long dreads falling over her shoulder.  
“We will find what this is all about, Cosima, I assure you,” Aldous said.  
“Don’t you worry about that. After all, I came here to research. I will find the source of the magic, Mr. Leekie!” Cosima gave him a cheeky smile.  
“I said I can deal with it.” Aldous lost a bit of his composure.  
“No you won’t,” Rachel said calmly.  
“I am still regent King, Rachel, you will do as I say!” Aldous said, his voice growing louder.  
“Should I go to the committee and request a new election? Don’t you forget to whom you are speaking to, Aldous!” Rachel said in that cold voice of hers, the one she used to command. She stood up from the table angrily but gracefully, like the princess she was, and walked away.  
Sarah was waiting at the door. When she saw Rachel with a hard look on her face stomp by, she didn’t dare to ask her why she was pissed. Instead, she waited for the faerie so she could question her.

“Oi! What happened?” Sarah asked.  
“That old guy is really creepy, I don’t like him. He was giving too many lame explanations to Rachel,” Cosima explained.  
“Yeah, that makes two of us. We just have to wait three more years to get rid of that guy,” Sarah commented.  
“Why three and not now?” Cosima wondered.  
“By law, she has to wait her 21st birthday to claim the crown, and she’s planning to abide by the rules. In the meantime, she has to listen to that creepy Leekie,” Sarah said. Cosima nodded in understanding.  
The girls went on their way to the library to find clues about the magic that had been used recently. It was important to identify the source to trace it back to the user and Cosima was already spitting out a ton of crazy ideas of all the possibilities they could find. Sarah was feeling lost, so instead she went for a walk in the royal garden. It was incredible how big it was. There were so many plants and trees surrounding the river that it made the palace something to marvel at. Having this amount of green between the concrete and wood of the city made her feel more comfortable, it was like being back in the Academy in Cajaerthyr. Walking around the bushes she heard Alison, or so she thought. She followed the trail right to where the source was coming from.  
“Those handcuffs were very useful, Beth.” She heard Alison’s voice.  
“I have no complaints in using them again, Ali.” And that was Beth.

Sarah came out to greet her friends, and to tell them about their most recent adventure. “Oi oi Beth!” When she saw the two girls she could have sworn they were holding hands. “You okay? You seemed kind of tense, Alison” Sarah noticed the stiffness that rolled off of the human and Beth put her hands into her pockets.  
“Hey Sarah, we’re very good, how was your trip?” Beth said smiling awkwardly, also tense. Sarah explained their encounter with the Hellhounds, how they found Cosima the faerie, and the fight at the tavern.  
“You missed a lot, asshole! Hope that at least it was worth it,” Sarah complained to her friend.  
“It was totally worth it.” Beth smiled in complicity with Alison.  
“That play better be good, Alison!” Sarah said jokingly.  
Beth and Sarah said their farewells to Alison and returned to the library to help with the research. Once inside, they found Cosima on the floor surrounded by books and…  
“What the hell are you smoking, it smells fuckin’ weird!” Sarah try to hold her breath, but she couldn’t.  
“Pot, it helps soothe my mind. You want a drag?” Cosima blew the smoke out and offered the joint to the elf.  
“I’ll pass, thanks.” Sarah took a chair and straddled it.  
“Hey Cos, meet Beth, our not so reliable translator.” Sarah pointed with her chin to the other elf.  
“Hey, I’m Cosima, and I think you can help me with these ancient texts.” Cosima showed the tons of books surrounding her.  
“Yeah, let’s see.” Beth sat near Cosima to see what she was doing.  
Rachel took a couple of texts and walked towards the exit. “Once you find an explanation, meet me at my chambers. I have to prepare for the meet with the warlocks’ envoy, who is supposed to be here in a couple of days.” She moved on and Sarah followed behind her.  
____________  
Rachel was starting to understand the big picture behind the mysterious dark magic. The faerie was very clever and she offered interesting information. The type of magic that was being used was ancient and forbidden, so whoever was behind this had a plan carefully laid out.  
Rachel noticed that her elf was limping a bit, but she was trying to conceal it. Rachel noted everything about her, from her golden-brown eyes to her smile, to her pissed off face, to her badass attitude, which made their passive-aggressive relationship even more interesting.

“Daniel, bring a medical kit to my room!” the princess ordered her servant. She kept moving through the castle halls until she reached her room. Once inside, she refreshed herself, and washed her hands. Daniel brought the kit as requested.  
“Leave!” she ordered. The maids and servants were exiting along the chambers along with Sarah.  
“Not you, elf.” Sarah turned around and waited for whatever stupid thing her princess was going to ask of her, or at least that’s what Rachel could read from her expression. She smirked.  
“Take your pants off,” Rachel ordered.  
Sarah was not expecting that. “Wait, what!?”  
“You heard me.” Rachel waited.

Sarah was hesitant. She had no clue why on earth she had to take her pants off, unless… Sarah quickly shook her head dismissing her treacherous thoughts.  
“Should I do it, then?” Rachel approached very slowly, swaying her hips in the most alluring way.  
Sarah was completely paralyzed, her eyes going down, down, down.  
“Shit, I got this.” Sarah immediately unbuckled her belt and took off her leather pants.  
“Sit down.” Rachel showed her the chair where she wanted her seated. Sarah complied and sat. Rachel took the first aid box and kneeled in front of Sarah, who exhaled apparently in relief.  
“You are an idiot, look at this! It’s infected.” Rachel took out the medicine and bandages. She traced with Sarah’s thigh with her hand, causing the elf to tense up. She took out the silk bandage and poured the medicine over the wound. Sarah hissed, but she laid still.  
______________  
Sarah clenched her fist as hard as she could, her nails digging into her flesh. She needed to remain still, or else the gods only knew what she was going to do. Rachel was in a very dangerous position, right between her legs, and she just needed her a little bit closer. And Rachel didn’t do anything to ease the situation either; on the contrary, the way she caressed her leg while taking care of the wound was completely sexual. It was impossible to deny that and she made it worse when she licked her lips and batted her long eyelashes at her. Sarah bit her cheek hard enough to draw blood, and her resolve hung by a thread. She hated the woman; this game of theirs was about to take turn towards the bad if she kept pushing it.

Finally, Rachel finished bandaging the wound and got up; Sarah stood as well, grabbing her pants and putting them on as fast as the bandage allowed her to. A knocked on the door broke the tension between them, and Daniel peeked through the door to announce to Rachel that Lord Duval was here to visit.  
Sarah rolled her eyes. She did not like that hideous jerk at all. Rachel washed her hands again. Taking a towel, she dried her hands and left to meet the Lord.  
“Elf, go to the library and find out if Cosima has anything new to inform us!” Rachel said with her usual bitchiness. Sarah nodded, and went to the library.  
Sarah took her time though; she was in no hurry to obey the bitch. She hated when Rachel referred to her as elf. Whenever she used the term, Rachel dissociated her as a person, stating clearly the distance between them; servant and royal, another piece of her sick game. When they had these close encounters of passive-aggressive animalistic flirting, the demon bitch simply toyed with her, not caring about how she felt at all. She was done with this shit, she needed to release all the tension she had inside, she didn’t care with who she did it, Sarah just needed an escape.  
When she reached the library she found Cosima and Beth discussing ideas. Cosima was actually pretty excited explaining some portal theories.  
“What are you talking about?” Sarah sat with the girls.  
“Hey dipshit, what happened? You look like crap!” Beth mocked her friend.  
“None of your business Childs, what’s up?” Sarah was not in the mood to talk about her living nightmare.  
“After reviewing the ancient text, we’ve reached a conclusion that whoever is behind this is preparing a summoning of some kind.” Cosima was again fluttering her hands while she explained her theory to Sarah.  
“Whoa, stop there, Cos. You say that they are opening portals in specific points to summon a thing?” Sarah scratched her head in utter confusion.  
“Look at this map.” Beth showed a map of Leda with different points on it.  
“Okay, what am I supposed to see?” Sarah asked.  
Cosima traced a series of drawings. “Each of these points are the ones where I detected traces of magic. If we unite them all, you can see the shape of a spiral, more or less. If we extrapolate this data with current locations, we can assume that these are probable sites of rituals.” Cosima said.  
“The symbol in the old language represents darkness and evil, so whatever these people are planning is completely fucked up,” Beth concluded.

Sarah took a deep breath; things were going to get more messed up according to what they said.  
She was on her way back to her torment when she bumped into another soldier who she knew from sparring really well. And she had the best idea ever.  
“Hey Raj?” Sarah said in her most flirtatious voice.  
“Hello Sarah, how are you?” Raj was smiling.  
“You know, I was thinking about you.” Sarah got closer to Raj. “I think I will accept that drink, if the offer still stands.”  
“Sure, you have time?” The young man asked.  
“Yeah, let’s go.” Sarah of course did it with the intention to mindfuck with her royal bitch. After they bought their ales, Sarah lead Raj to the gardens where she knew that fucker was going to be. They talked nonsense. She didn’t care what he was talking about, she was only paying attention to her hearing, as soon as she distinguished her voice, she kissed Raj, wildly, even angry. The poor guy tried to respond eagerly, but Sarah was too much for him, too savage to contain. Too pissed to stop, she quickly undressed him, threw her clothing to the side, and pushed him into the bushes. Then, she rode him wild.  
_____________  
Rachel was bored already. She didn’t want anything to do with this Lord, yet she knew that rumors of her dating Olivier could help her cause. She said her goodbyes and started to walk back to the castle when she heard her voice; actually, moans. What the fuck?, she thought. She walked following the grunt noises, she knew it was a bad idea but she had to see.  
When she turned to the darkest path of her gardens she saw movement. She squinted, her eyes trying to see beyond the shadows, once her eyes adjusted a bit better she saw her silhouette, Sarah Manning, her elf, banging a guy.

She stood there, hearing her voice; she wanted to slap her, tear that shirt of hers and make sure she remembered to whom she owed obedience, except she was just her protector not a servant. The rhythm of their shagging was fast, animalistic, savage, and her elf was enjoying it. Rachel closed her eyes, she could picture her elf perfectly, making the sounds she was hearing right now, if only she had her over her bed. She opened her eyes again, to find herself aroused, her core dampening by the minute.  
It was stupid of her to remain there watching like a perv, but it was a challenge. She knew her too damn well. Sarah’s breaths were faltering, she was about to come, she was so close, and…there.  
“Shite, Gods damn it!” Sarah screamed when she fell on top of the guy.  
“You alive, Raj?” Sarah joked.  
“I think so!” He laughed, a bit embarrassed.  
Rachel smirked. No Sarah, next time you will scream my name, for the Gods I swear it. I will make you mine, she thought. Raj Singh, you will pay for taking my property. She turned around, walking back to her chambers. When she returned to her to her cold bed, among the silk sheets she found her own release, thinking on the damn elf she desired the most; the one, she couldn’t have.


	7. Terms and Conditions

The days passed and the tension between Rachel and Sarah was more than evident. They were avoiding eye contact and barely speaking to each other, yet Rachel kept abusing her protector services, as usual. Rachel knew she had to get back at her, but she wanted to do it big and really make her pay for her insolence. In her mind, Sarah was hers, before she was even born she had belonged to her. Sarah could fight it all she wanted, but in the end she was always going to be hers.  
A voice brought the young princess back to reality.  
“Excuse me, could you repeat that?” Rachel asked the faerie.  
“I was saying that this dark summoning is still in process, you need to send men to the probable places I selected to stop the rituals that might open the portal to perform the summoning.” Cosima repeated.  
“Right, I shall speak with Aldous.” Rachel said dryly.  
“This type of magic can be traced to three probable groups: Warlocks, Orcs and Faeries, but I can assure you that we faeries are not involved, Princess.” Cosima clarified.  
“The council will set up a meeting with all races involved; I think that we must speak and analyze possible courses of action.” Rachel was still wondering as to who might benefit from her death.  
“My lady, I think that we might be talking about more than one person. Whoever wants you dead knows you are following your parents’ footsteps in trying to reunite all of the races. To create chaos, it would be easy to kill the person who is trying to bring unity to Leda. You’re supposed to be one of the most secured people in this world. If they can kill you, it means no one is safe,” Beth concluded.

“That makes a lot of sense, so let’s give them the chance to do it. We are going celebrate the beginning of spring, and people from all places will be invited, therefore giving them a chance to do their play,” Rachel had thought about the risks, but she knew it was a huge opportunity to uncover the truth.  
“Cool, I like it. We have what? Two weeks? I can set up a system to detect traces of dark magic; all the people involved in this plot must have a trace in their blood, that way I can know if they are here or not.” Cosima offered more insight about her plan to identify the assassins.  
“Very well, what we have spoken here shall remain between us. Now, I will speak with Aldous to prepare the spring festival.” Rachel stood up from the table where she was speaking with Cosima and Beth, and headed for the Main Hall where Aldous worked. Sarah walked silently about three paces behind her.  
“That is too risky, my lady!” Sarah said.  
“I like risks, it’s more fun. Don’t you think so too, elf?” Rachel kept her attitude consistent toward Sarah.

The two of them finally arrived to the place where Aldous was speaking with- “Lord Duval?” Rachel was surprised to see the man with Aldous.  
“Hello Rachel, good timing. Please, take a seat.” Aldous offered her a chair. Olivier bent over in a slight bow.  
“We were discussing the future, my dear. We have agreed...well, Olivier, please inform Rachel of the wonderful news!” Aldous said with a devious smile.  
“But of course my lady, I asked for your hand in marriage, and Aldous accepted,” Olivier said.  
Rachel raised her eyebrow, her face expressionless. “You did?”  
“The announcement must be during the All Hallows Eve Masked Ball, and the ceremony will be held next year after Christmas festivities,” Aldous said.  
“Very well. Now I want to speak about the spring festivities.” All business, Rachel Duncan never wavered; she accepted the decision and moved on to the next topic. She was like an ice floe, nothing bothered her, except the elf, the only one who made her blood boil was fucking Sarah Manning.  
___________  
As soon as Rachel finished her discussion, Sarah went away, she needed some distance. How had she accepted her fate, just like that? Searing ice ran through her veins. She was mad, pissed and hurt.  
“Where is Raj?” Sarah asked the soldiers that were in the kitchen.  
“He was deployed yesterday to Ashbourne,” one man replied.  
“What? Who? Why?!” Sarah was desperate to release her frustration, and she trusted Raj to help her.  
“I don’t’ know why him ‘cus he sucks at fighting, but men were being deployed to areas where beasts are roaming more frequently. Orders from above,” was all the response she got.  
“Shite!” Sarah knew who did it, it had to be her. Sarah went back to the palace, looking for Rachel; she was going to tear that bitch’s face apart. She was going back to the library looking for her when she saw Alison with Beth, walking towards the exit.  
“Oi! Alison, Beth. Have you seen Rachel?” Sarah asked her two friends, who seemed to be acting a bit weird as of late.  
“Last I saw, she was in the library with Cosima,” Beth said.  
“Thanks, er, Alison, are you okay? You look kind of feverish.” Sarah put her hand over Alison’s forehead to check her temperature. Alison panicked and tensed.  
“I am perfectly fine, Sarah. Now, you were going somewhere, right?” Alison changed subjects quickly.  
“Right, catch up with you two later.” Sarah kept going, her boots resonating in the castle halls. She opened the library door, but no one was around. Sarah thought about where she could be, and after a couple of minutes of thought she snapped her fingers. Her room, she must be changing outfits, she thought.

Sarah ran up the stairs, two at a time. She was going to teach her a lesson to not mess with her; when she finally made it to her floor, she walked to her room entrance and without knocking pushed the double doors, she walked inside and-  
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Sarah froze when she found Cosima and Rachel making out. Sarah blinked again to try to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.  
Nope, definitely not a dream.

Rachel was on top of the dreadlocked faerie, leaning right over the table.  
“Hey Sarah, what’s up?” Cosima fixed her clothes quickly, trying to make it casual. Rachel was wiping the lipstick left over from Cosima on her lips, she was smiling.  
“Cos, what is the meaning of this!?” Sarah stomped closer to the faerie. By her aggressive posture Cosima raised both hands and gave two steps back.  
“Whoa, dude, this isn’t what you think it is! Eh, it was for research, no big deal. Sorry, it won’t happen again.” Cosima pushed her glasses up her nose, smiled and left in a hurry. What the hell did she just say?!  
“I don’t think I called for you, elf.” Rachel took a seat, crossing her legs. Her hands were over the table, with her fingers entwined, appearing very business-like.  
Sarah turned to look at her.  
“You sent Raj away? Are you insane? He is going to get killed, Rachel!” Sarah was angry.  
“Are you mad I took away your boyfriend?” Rachel purred.  
“He is not… Doesn’t matter, he is going to be dead soon, you know. You could have sent soldiers with experience, like Art!” Sarah said.  
“I do what I want.” Rachel was trying her best to not smile, but she simply was pleased by the elven warrior’s reactions, and she was getting aroused by it.  
“Fine, and what about Cosima? Aren’t you betrothed to that Olivier guy?” Sarah’s jaw was tight, fists clenched, her eyes shifting more gold than brown.  
“Don’t be naïve Sarah, that is just a formality; besides, I was curious. They say the Fae are very sexual individuals, and Cosima exudes sexuality. How can you blame me for trying it out?” Rachel slid her fingers through her short blonde hair casually, enticing Sarah. She stood up and walked towards the elf.

Rachel reduced the distance between them, moving around Sarah, circling her like a beast about to attack her prey. Her hand glided over Sarah’s shoulder, following the length of her back and then tracing her jaw. Rachel put her thumb over Sarah’s lips, caressed them very softly and she whispered, “You make my blood boil, elf. Next time, think better than to bang one of my soldiers.” Rachel brought her face closer to Sarah’s. She was one breath away of tasting her lips, but she moved at the last second and instead kissed her cheek. She lingered there for far too long, and Sarah felt like she was burning. Rachel turned around and went to sit at her desk, going back to work like nothing happened.

Do something asshole, do anything, please. Sarah couldn’t move; she was too afraid of touching the princess. Her lips left a mark on her cheek, driving her insane, and she wanted to throw her over that desk and rip her clothes and do a lot more than kissing, but the bitch was back in her usual cold demeanor. However, the thing that scared her the most was that she was starting to develop feelings; attraction was one thing, but to give her heart to someone who was not an option, who could tear her apart with one word was a big hell no.  
“Amin delotha lle!” Sarah spat, and she left her chambers. Yes, she hated her, mainly because how she made her feel: stupid and weak.

That night neither Sarah nor Rachel could sleep, they inflicted so much hurt and pain to the other that it was almost ridiculous they hadn’t killed one another. They fantasized being with each other, they dreamt of kisses and hot sex; however that was as far as they could take it. One was going to be Queen, the other her shield; the word love belonged in a place far from there.  
The spring festival arrived, and the people of the town arranged their houses with flowers, and music was everywhere. Visitors from all the country came to enjoy the event.

Rachel walked among her people, followed by her elven warrior and her friends, who were having such a good time. The fireworks illuminated the night with a myriad of colors, and the dancing and the cheering made this night incredible. None of the guard allowed themselves to relax though; the purpose of the spring festivities was using Rachel as bait.  
“This is hella awesome! I never thought this humans parties were this rad!” Cosima said, admiring the fireworks.  
“Can we focus, please?” Alison said, rather anxious.  
“Ali, I already told you, there is nothing to fear. Sarah is going to protect Rachel at all costs.” Beth smiled and took her hand in reassurance. Alison squeezed Beth’s hand.  
Sarah cleared her throat in an attempt to call the attention of the very distracted pair. “It’s better if we split. Cos, you try to pinpoint any trace of dark magic, Beth keep an eye from the ceilings. Alison, just do what you do, yeah?” Everybody nodded and moved to their positions. It was funny how this extremely different group of people became so tight woven, like a sisterhood, following the commands of their leader, Sarah Manning.

The night moved at a fast pace, the stars glowing bright in the night sky, the cold wind whipping Sarah’s long hair about her lean face while she observed her surroundings and the hot-as-fuck girl in front of her. The way she acted in front of people was something that amazed the elf. Rachel was good with words; her style was always impeccable, every hair on her head was in place, and the way her lips curved when she smiled and she batted those eyelashes was to die for. She then thought about that little girl crying at her parents’ funeral. She had never seen Rachel Duncan cry after that event, not one single tear. She became so cold towards people, avoiding attachments; she just gave a fuck about people. It was a miracle that she bonded with Alison, though. Alison was pretty bitchy, too.  
______________  
Cosima wandered the streets, trying to get a hint of magic, but so far nothing seemed wrong. The wind was extremely cold, so she tightened her red cape around her shoulders. She was a bit tired, so she sat at one of the benches near the river and took out a joint, with her hand she created a tiny flame and took a long drag.  
Shit, you are really stupid to mess with Rachel. You should know better. She blew out smoke. People walked, holding hands, others with their families. It made her wonder if she was ever going to find someone who could understand her. She took another drag, her head feeling lighter already.  
Suddenly she felt a little tingling, and she frowned, trying to feel what it was. As a faerie, she could feel better than anyone her surroundings, nature and her were deeply connected. That was the blessing of being a faerie.  
“Shit!” Cosima dropped the joint, running like her life depended on it. She pushed and dodged through the crowds, shoving people aside in her rush to get to her desired destination. Running as fast as she could, she turned around the corner of the street to find more people, but the tingling was increasing. They were close, and she needed to send a signal to the others, but mostly Beth, who was supposed to be on top of things.  
With her hands, Cosima created a fireball and released it, watching it soar into the air; hopefully Beth would identify the sign and go to Sarah. Cosima ran through a side alley to avoid as many people as she possibly could, and was heading to the castle. She kept running and when she turned to her right, she bumped horribly into someone and ended up on the floor.

“Merde!” a female voice spat.  
“Holy watershed!” Her head was spinning, she tried to get up, but she couldn’t just yet.  
“Are you okay?” The woman with the weird accent asked, but she looked rather blurry.  
“Shit, where are my glasses?” Cosima started to pat the floor in a search for her black rims.  
“These are yours, oui?” The woman handed her the glasses. Cosima put them on and looked again at the woman. Cosima was in awe. Never before had she seen such a beauty. The woman before her was very tall, her curly blonde hair was at shoulder length, with crimson lips, and deep hazel eyes. Cosima gulped.  
She gave her the biggest grin ever. “Hey, sorry about that.”  
The taller woman gave her a forgiving smile. “It’s okay, don’t worry.”  
“I’m Cosima!” She extended her hand in greeting.  
“Delphine, enchantée.” The blonde shook it in response.  
“Enchantée.” Cosima kept grinning like a fool; she frowned and said, “You’re from Black Mountain, right?”  
“Oui, I am a frost sorcerer,” Delphine commented.  
“Cool, I’m hot, erm, I’m a fire fae!” She laughed awkwardly.  
“Shit, I gotta run, Delphine.” For a moment Cosima had forgotten the situation she was in, she took one last longing glance at the Mountaineer and left.  
_____________  
Rachel, Alison and Sarah were on their way back to the castle after having fun at the town; Rachel and Alison were discussing ideas for Rachel’s wedding, while Sarah tried to dismiss the conversation; too bad she had excellent hearing. She didn’t want to know what piece of clothing Rachel was going to wear, much less the undergarment that was supposed to elicit the most intense reaction of Lord Duval. Alison was so excited, offering ideas of things she wanted to knit for Rachel when she heard it. Sarah jumped for a moment and pushed Rachel and Alison to the floor.

“Bloody hell!” Sarah stood up and unsheathed her sword; she was surrounded by five mages. Out of nowhere, their minions appeared and began to attack.  
“Stay behind me!” Sarah ordered to Rachel and Alison. The minions usually took the shape preferred by their summoner, in this case, they were horrible beasts. Sarah attacked as fast as she could, but they also relied on magic, and that was giving her more trouble, particularly arcane magic.  
“Die already!!!” The elf warrior fought with all she could. Her face was splattered with blood, and she tried to get to the mages, but their minions were delaying her, creating enough time in order for them to release their spell. She was too late. The beams of light went straight to their target. Sarah intercepted the dark magic spells, and she fell to her knees. The taste of bile soured in her mouth, and she wanted to puke. The blast had left her dazed, and when Sarah tried to get up, to her dismay, the minions began attacking again.

“Alison!” One, two, three arrows flew, piercing the minions on top of Sarah. Beth kept firing arrows, and ran to keep Alison safe.  
About a second after, Cosima arrived, shooting fireballs. Together, the trio disposed of the rest of the minions.  
“About time you two arrived, assholes!” Sarah said, trying to remain on her feet, but she felt terrible. She was cold and sweating, her breath ragged. Still, she had to grab the mage that was alive for questioning.  
“Beth, I was so scared, oh my gods!” Alison ran and hugged Beth. Beth cradled her between her arms, burying her face in the crook of her neck.  
“That’s hella gay.” Cosima said with the cheekiest smile she had.  
“Cos, for real. What are you talking about?” Sarah was completely lost trying to interpret Cosima’s weird words. She saw Beth and Alison hugging, and then everything clicked. “Oh, OH! Bloody play my arse, Beth! You two are shagging!”

“Yeah, don’t be so envious dipshit, just because you’re not getting any!” Beth retorted. Sarah rolled her eyes and grabbed the mage again. “Let’s go, asshole.” Sarah pushed the mage, but in a sudden movement the man drank something from a flask. He grabbed his throat, in pain, emitted a few sounds of agony, and then dropped dead.  
“Woah, this is a natural poison, I can smell the faint odor of this particular flower,” Cosima said, inspecting the remnants of the flask.  
“That leaves us at zero,” Alison said.  
“Let the soldiers deal with this mess, we better go back home.” Rachel made sure that her people dealt with the mess Sarah and company left before returning to the castle.  
“I’ll walk Ali back to the dorms,” Beth said.  
“Yeah, of course you will!” Cosima teased. Alison looked like she wanted to strangle her while she blushed. They said their goodbyes and went to their respective destinations.  
____________  
Rachel returned to the palace with Sarah and Cosima. Aldous came rushing in to see if she was okay. They sat in the living room to talk and discuss their next plans.  
“So the mage killed himself. They must be under the order of someone powerful if they fear failure,” Aldous said.  
“What we know is that we have a group of warlocks involved in this,” Rachel said.  
“I am so glad you made it alive. Let me get you some tea to soothe your nerves.” Aldous went to the tray and prepared tea, he came back and handed the cup to Rachel.  
“What really bothers me is how they knew the exact moment to attack.” Cosima said, more to herself than anything. She took a deep breath and- “What the hell?” Cosima started to look for something.

Rachel took her cup of tea to take a sip when Cosima stood up and smacked her hand. Rachel dropped the cup, which shattered on the thick carpet.  
“Don’t! It’s the same shit that the mage drank” Cosima blurted.  
Sarah went for Leekie’s neck, her dagger just centimeters of pushing it through his flesh. “It’s you, motherfucker!” Sarah growl.  
“You are dearly mistaken!” Leekie said.  
“Liar, you told them, didn’t you, and…” Sarah’s vision suddenly started to blur again. She shook her head, trying to dissipate the fogginess but it was an effort in vain.  
“What is wrong, protector? Feeling bad?” Sarah loosened her grip and Aldous took his distance.  
“You should be more careful, Sarah. Arcane magic can be very dangerous,” Aldous said with an evil grin on his face.  
“Guards!!!” Rachel called, when the soldiers came to grab the old man they were blinded by a imperious flash of light and he was gone.  
“Son of a bitch!” Cosima ran to Sarah’s side, putting her hand over her forehead.  
“What’s wrong, Cosima?” Rachel asked in concern.  
“They cast some poisoning spell it seems, I have to prepare a treatment. Take her to her room and I will take care if it.” The dreadlocked faerie went quickly to the kitchen to start working on the treatment.

Rachel took the elf to her bedroom instead. Not in a million year she was going to let this idiotic and stubborn bitch get away from her. Cosima came to her aid minutes later, forcing Sarah to drink a mixture she had just prepared to help her system flush out the poison, though she warned that she was going to be extremely feverish with cold sweats. Once Cosima left, Rachel sat beside Sarah, who was lying on her bed, wearing nothing more than a white camisole. Rachel cupped her cheek; it was hot and clammy from the sweat. Sarah opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to try to clear her sight, but the fever was too intense for her to be truly awake.  
“Is that you, demon bitch?” Sarah asked dreamily.

Rachel lips curved. That was her elf, stubborn until the very end. Rachel lay beside her, propping her head up on one elbow to look at her better. Her hand reached out for the elf’s long hair, feeling it’s softness, her hazel eyes absorbing the view of her warrior. Her hard muscles framed her lean body, and her strong powerful legs at rest gave a marvelous view. The collar of her shirt was opened enough to show her collarbone and just a bit of her cleavage.  
Rachel closed her eyes and filled her mind with the image of what the shirt was covering. right over her left breast Sarah had a 10 cm scar made by a longsword she barely dodged; on her right rib she had three slashes made by a Flying Scythe Bird; on her hard abs she had a transversal scar 15 cm long, caused by a knife. She didn’t even mention the ones she had in her arms, back and legs. She had always fantasized about tracing with her hands and lips each of those scars, to try to ease the pain and bad memories they caused, scars that Sarah took on her behalf in order to protect her. She opened her eyes to find the elf staring at her, more gold than brown. She knew that the gold of her eyes meant one of three things: she was excited, angry or aroused. Rachel voted for option number three, because she recognized her lust, she just knew it.

 

“Bloody hell, do I have to dream of you all the time?” Sarah asked drowsily.  
“Yes, you do,” Rachel purred. She got closer to the elf, nudged her chin with her fingers and kissed her. She took her time, kissing the elf softly at first. Sarah was in between drugged and asleep, and she simply let go since she thought she was in dreamland; Sarah held the nape of Rachel’s neck, pulling her closer, opening her mouth to give Rachel’s tongue access. Rachel kissed her deeply, feeding her hunger for the elf with desperation, but she broke the kiss when she felt Sarah’s hand fall limp. She was asleep again.

 

Rachel sighed. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that Sarah, but you probably won’t remember a thing. And that is okay, because when the time comes we are going to come to terms. My conditions are simple; every time you look in the mirror you will see my claiming marks all over you.” Rachel bit Sarah’s lower lip; at least she could start with something discreet.  
“You are mine, Sarah Manning. Mine,” Rachel whispered, and left the elf dreaming of her.


	8. Mine

The light filtered gently through the curtains. Sarah stirred sleepily and inhaled deeply. She felt so comfortable, had no desire to wake up. The bed was so fluffy and her perfume invaded Sarah’s senses, it was like she was right there with her in bed.  
Wait a minute, Sarah thought alarmed. Opening one eye, she examined her surroundings. Shit, this was neither her room nor her bed. She sat up startled, she looked around and then she saw her, sipping tea in her elegant chair, staring intensely at her. 

“Good morning, Sarah,” she said, sipping her tea.  
Sarah felt vulnerable knowing that when she slept, Rachel looked at her. It was like being in a viper’s nest. She tried to cover herself with the drapes, to protect herself from Rachel’s stare.  
“Cat ate your tongue?” Rachel asked in a soft, low purr.  
“Morning, your highness,” Sarah croaked.  
“Would you like something to eat?” Rachel kept staring at her, hazel eyes were so dark that she had to wonder what was going on in her head.  
“What? Waiting for me to get your tray, my lady?” Sarah snarked.  
“Fine, get ready. We have things to do.” Rachel put her cup over the table with more force than necessary and walked away.  
Sarah frowned, and then it hit her. Shit, that was her being nice to me, fuck! You had to blow it, didn’t ya Manning? Well done, now she’s back to her cold hardass bitch mode.” Sarah stood up and returned to her room.

After a while Sarah went down the stairs and headed for the main hall, where Rachel was meeting with the town council.  
“Mr. Leekie plotted to kill our princess. Arthur found evidence among his belongings of his relationship with the warlocks. It is believed that he is the one who ordered the assassination of your parents, your highness,” The councilwoman said.  
“Is that right, Art?” Rachel asked her army’s commander.  
“Yes, my lady. We searched his room and found glyphs. He was a caster from the information we gathered, related to the warlock class,” Commander Bell said.  
“We need to increase the security of the borderlands. I suspect that the Aldous is not working on his own, there must be another group involved,” Rachel said.  
“Understood, my lady,” Art said.  
“Now, my lady. You are not yet of age to reign and the regent King betrayed us, what course of action do you recommend?” The councilwoman asked.  
Rachel stood silent for a moment, Sarah was curious what she was going to do. Was she going to claim her birthright now, or…  
“Angela Deangelis, you are a trusted woman. My parents respected you, as do I. I propose Angie to be regent Queen until my 21st birthday. If the town council approves, of course.” Rachel looked pointedly at each of the members of the council, and all of them nodded in response.

“Then the decision is set. From this day on until the day I turn 21, Angela Deangelis, you will rule this kingdom with honor and justice.” Rachel gave the woman a warm smile.  
Angela stood up and bowed to her in response. “I swear I will not fail you, my lady.”  
Rachel stood up as well. “I know, Angie. Session dismissed.” Rachel walked to the exit. Sarah was beaming with pride. She felt truly honored to be by the side of this girl ruler. Rachel could be a fucking asshole with her, yet with her people, she was just and right.

“Hey guys! I came up with something that I think can help us with the summoning problem!” Cosima arrived today wearing her dreads in a high bun, a red wool shirt, fitted black pants and well-worn leather boots.  
“How many rituals are left to do the summoning?” Rachel asked.  
“Just one more, in Greyfey,” Cosima said.  
“We need to stop that summoning, I don’t like what Aldous might be plotting. The real question is, though- what is he going to summon?” Sarah asked in a worried tone.  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m working on that, Sarah,” Cosima said.  
“Excuse me, my lady. The warlock representative is here, the sorceress is waiting for you in the living room,” The maid said.  
“Let’s go meet this warlock, then. Cosima, try to find any traces of dark magic that you possibly can,” Rachel commented.

Together, the three girls walked through the wide halls of the Castle, turning corners and passing through several doors until they reached the living room.  
Sarah opened the doors and entered first, followed by Rachel and Cosima. The girls were going to meet the sorceress when Cosima stopped right in her tracks.  
“Hey, it’s you!” Cosima grinned.  
“Cosima? Hello.” Delphine smiled.  
“Wow, you’re really here! Amazing.” Cosima was very happy to find the sorceress again.  
“You know each other?” Sarah asked, looking at both girls.  
“Oh no, I mean, we met during the spring festival, I bumped into her. It was brief, though!” Cosima explained.  
“And you were sent by the warlocks?” Rachel sat in front of the blonde sorceress, crossing her legs at the ankles.  
“Oui, I’m Delphine Cormier. On behalf of the warlocks, I have to say that we are not part of any assassination attempt, nor dark magic use,” The sorceress said.  
“That’s what they told you to say, yet I cannot accept it as a truth when Aldous Leekie worked with some of your people,” Rachel responded matter of factly. Delphine seemed uncomfortable by the bluntness of Rachel’s tone.  
“I will do what I must to uncover the truth, princess. I will remain here to find about the dark magic users, and if can be of help, just ask,” Delphine said.  
“Really!? That’s awesome, you might be able to help me!” Cosima said in excitement.  
“Cos, take it easy, yeah? She is a warlock after all, and they are sneaky,” Sarah remarked.  
“Very well, we shall see what comes from this,” Rachel said.  
________  
Cosima showed Delphine around the castle, the town and of course, her messy room. The faerie was very happy to have someone like her, who was connected with magic. Not that she didn’t like hanging out with the elven duo, Alison and the princess. She just felt so connected with this girl. There was also something about her hair that made her want to touch it very badly. Her smile was intoxicating, Cosima had no clue why she felt like this, but she had to keep it to herself. Warlock society was very strict regarding their moral codes, and being interested in people of the same sex was not something they would consider. Therefore, Delphine would never see her as something more than just a friend.

“Cosima?” The sorceress touched her hand lightly, trying to gain her attention.  
Cosima was startled. “Crap, sorry. I was thinking and I zoned out, what did you say?”  
“This book of yours explained several summoning techniques; it is not possible to find a way to stop them without more accurate information,” Delphine explained.  
“Yeah, I know, it’s complicated to explain. As a magic user I prefer to show, not tell.” Cosima stood up and held Delphine’s hand. She gave a small pull to encourage the blonde to follow her.  
Cosima went back to the castle’s library and showed Delphine all the info she collected regarding old summoning rituals and her overall hypothesis. Delphine was surprised; she did not expected to find someone so close to unveiling Aldous’s plan. This girl was definitely something else. She had to report this information back, and their plans. However, she was hesitant. Lying to this girl simply felt wrong.  
_____________  
Sarah was shooting daggers at Lord Duval with her stare. He was presently visiting his bride-to-be at her cabin on the outer border of the city. Rachel wanted to relax before traveling again, so she had insisted on inviting everybody to enjoy some peace at her vacation home.  
The cabin was a two floor wood construction, with small windows and a very simplistic ambiance, which was a wow factor when you knew how flashy the princess was. It had a small kitchen and bath on the first floor and the bedrooms were on the second. Because Alison was in charge of making food for everybody, the maids and castle staff did not accompany them.

Alison and Beth were close, near the river, stuck in their own world. So Sarah was jammed between lovey dovey couples and boring royal couples. Cosima was hanging out these days with blondie in the capital, so Sarah was lonelier than ever. She thought that was how she was going to be, forever alone. Rachel and Olivier were having a picnic. She hated the way he laughed and the way he turned his eyes into Rachel’s cleavage. Her thumb, traced the edge of her dagger ever so softly, picturing herself slicing the fucker’s throat.  
Rachel was giving him a piece of the cake Alison prepared, and Sarah’s throat suddenly dried when she saw how Rachel licked the tip of her fingers that had cream on top. Sarah pushed too hard her thumb, cutting herself with her dagger.

“Bloody hell!” Her bleeding finger was going to cause a mess if she didn’t clean it up, so she stood up from her post and walked to the small cabinet beside Rachel’s table. She could hear them from there talking their royal shit, the open window allowing their voices to be heard from where she was.  
“This is very delicious, Rachel,” Olivier said.  
“Indeed, Alison made it. Oops, I am such a mess, wait here, I’ll clean myself up. Be right back.  
Sarah rolled her eyes. How ridiculous. She washed her hand, trying to stop the blood from seeping from the cut. Elf weapons were extremely sharp and when they sliced, it was always deep.  
When she was sure that she had stopped the blood, she dried her hands and was ready to leave, but when she turned around, she found Rachel right in in front of her, blocking her path. She was going to speak, but Rachel pushed her hard and fast against the wall and smashed her lips against Sarah’s.  
Sarah was completely petrified; the princess was devouring her lips. It hurt, but it felt good as well.  
This is not happening. Nope, shit. Sarah could not process what was going on. Rachel’s tongue was dancing in her mouth, and her hands were all over her. Sarah did not dare to touch the princess; she kept her hands against the wall. Rachel moved her lips to her neck, licking and nipping it.  
“Rachel, what the hell are you doing?” Sarah heaved.  
“Shut up.” She kept kissing and sucking hard.  
“Rachel seriously what the-“ Rachel put her hand over Sarah’s mouth, muffling her sounds. Her other hand went straight down to the laces of her pants, untying them and shoving her hand inside the linen undergarment. Sarah’s eyes were wide, and her face started to turn a vivid red. the smirk on Rachel’s face was one of pure satisfaction.  
“You are so damn wet,” she purred.  
Sarah moaned, her soft cries muffled by the princess’s hand.  
“I am done waiting,” she whispered in the elf’s ear, and her fingers went inside.

Rachel pumped relentlessly, in and out of her inner muscles, Sarah’s moans were getting intense, her breaths heavy, yet the princess kept her hand in place.  
“Rachel, are you okay?” Lord Duval asked from outside the window.  
“Perfectly fine, Olivier. I’ll be there in a minute.” Rachel kept looking at Sarah, her smile devilishly hot.  
Sarah closed her eyes, letting the sensations flood her. She was so damn close, her legs about to falter. She clung to the wall tighter, drops of sweat forming on her forehead, the pressure of Rachel’s hand over her mouth increasing her arousal.  
“Let it go, Sarah,” Rachel whispered, and this time she buried her face against the crook of her neck.  
And Sarah let go. The spasms took her like a volcano, her screams of pleasure muffled by the princess’s soft hand. Rachel removed her hands from the warrior and Sarah fell to the floor, gasping for air, sweating like she just had the fight of her life.  
Rachel licked her fingers. “This is much better than cake,” she shot at her, and smiled.

Five days later, Sarah and company were on their way to Greyfey. According to Cosima, the plan was to stop the last summoning by using a spell she had prepared with Delphine. It was pretty clear that Cosima was completely into the blonde. Sarah rolled her eyes. This little group of them was turning out to be one of a kind: elves, humans and a warlock all rolled together.  
“Let’s hope this goes smoothly, I can’t wait to get back to Ali.” Beth yearned for the presence of her Alison Hendrix.  
“Gods, this is ridiculous,” Sarah complained while she set their camp.  
“HA, like you’re one to talk! It seems you were having fun as well.” Beth pointed to the purplish area in her neck.  
“I got hit with a wooden sword, dumbass.” Sarah dismissed her friend’s remarks. Yet, she was damn right. Rachel had made sure to leave a fucking mark on her neck. The situation between them after that day was exactly the same though; Rachel kept bitching and Sarah hated her every single day, yet there was something in the princess eyes that gave off a glint of ownership. Or, at least that’s how she felt. Sarah could not deny that her fantasies were pretty short compared to the real deal. Rachel Duncan- Princess of Dyad, heir to the throne, and ruler of Leda- had given her the best finger fuck of her life.  
___________  
While the elves settled the camp, Delphine saw a chance to take time to think. Her thoughts were a complete mess; in the past days she informed Aldous of the plans of her majesty, that meant that they were on their way to a death trap, and she was the solely responsible for it. Particularly, in putting the dreadlocked Fae in danger. Leekie promised not to hurt her, yet her instincts were screaming that something was off. Delphine had no clue what to do. She had been six days with Cosima, but she felt so connected to her. It was like they had been together for years. She never met someone who got her, just like she did, not even among her own kind.

“Excusez moi, I’ll go get fresh water.” Delphine said to the people around her, hoping someone heard her. She really needed time to think.  
“Hey, mind if I join you?” Cosima asked, as always, smiling broadly. She loved her smile; it was such a huge grin for a petite faerie.  
“Oui, bien sûr, Cosima.”  
The two of them walked, talking casually about magic and the differences between spells and rituals among their respective people. It was so comfortable just talking with her. She had no idea why, but she simply accepted the facts. They made it to the pond, where they refilled their water containers.  
“You’ve been super helpful, Delphine,” Cosima said.  
“Oh non, you are the one who practically did everything, ma chérie,” Delphine said without thinking. Cosima looked her with a pensive expression.  
“I think it’s time we admit what this is really about.” Delphine’s thoughts turned serious, and she quickly became alarmed inside. If she knew about her betrayal, then…  
She kissed her, and Delphine kissed her back, but briefly. Delphine smiled awkwardly at the faerie while she broke the kiss.  
“Shit, Delphine! I’m sorry I read you totes wrong,” Cosima apologized.  
“It’s okay, let’s get back to the camp.” Delphine walked back as fast as she could, she was not expecting that, yet the taste of her lips remained in her memory.


	9. Where I Belong

The party of five arrived at Greyfey midday. Sarah rode her horse alongside Rachel, followed by Beth, Cosima, and Delphine. The small town seemed quiet and empty, yet the eerie breeze carried the stench of the dead.  
“Are we too late?” Rachel looked at Cosima, who was already dismounting her horse to explore the place.  
“I’m not sure. Just because they have enough blood to do the ritual doesn’t mean that these dark warlocks have performed it yet.” Cosima kneeled to grab a sample from the soil.  
“”All right Cos, stay with Rachel and Delphine. Beth and I are going to check the area,” Sarah instructed, but of course Rachel had to interject.  
“And who named you commander, elf? I will go with you. Beth should stay to protect our researcher, don’t you think?” That was a rhetorical question, of course.  
“Amin naa lle nai, Arwenamin” Sarah said in her most sarcastic tone. Rachel smirked.  
“But of course you are mine to command, shall I remind you who owns you?” Rachel raised an eyebrow.  
“You don’t own me!” Sarah spat, nipping her horse and riding away. Rachel smiled in utter satisfaction. If Sarah needed a reminder, she was more than eager to do so.  
____________  
“Is it always like that?” The sorceress asked both girls.  
“Er, I’ve been around a couple of weeks and yeah, pretty much,” Cosima concluded.  
“Those two have a weird relationship, don’t mind them.” Beth took out her bow and arrow; they had to work quickly if they wanted to get out of there safely. She intended to do just that. Eight now, a lovely girl from Scarborough was waiting for her.  
Cosima kept looking for clues around the empty place. The traces of blood were becoming more gruesome the more they walked about the town.  
Delphine was walking close to the faerie. It seemed that after last night, Cosima had decided to move on, which was good by her.  
If they had moved on, why she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss?  
“I don’t think they’ve performed the ritual yet. The blood is still fresh, which means that the warlocks must be close.” Cosima furrowed her brows and stared off into the distance.  
“What’s the matter, Cosima?” The sorceress asked with curiosity.  
“Shit, get ready you two, we have company!” Beth pointed her bow in the direction Cosima was staring, her arrow ready to fly to pierce her target.  
“Merde!” Was the last thing Delphine said before the beasts attacked.

There were at least 20 of them, from tiny Fallen Shadows to the awful Sage Slimes, to the ferocious Swift Riders. They ran, trying to find an advantageous location, moving to the small town plaza.  
“Alright, back to back now!” Beth ordered. The three of them at least had their backs covered, trying to keep eyes in all directions.  
Cosima had her staff at the ready to initiate her fire magic, Beth was waiting for the perfect distance to let her arrow fly, and Delphine had summoned her minion which was- “A puppy?” Cosima asked incredulously.  
“Eh? Delphine are you serious? That’s that your minion?” Beth joked.  
“Quel est le problem?” Delphine was not getting the point.  
“Your minion, it’s an actual puppy!” Cosima declared with a huge smile, showing those white fangy teeth of hers.  
“Don’t underestimate Truffles, he is a very powerful ice minion!” Delphine countered, the faerie a smile.  
“Here they come. GO!” Beth launched the arrow after arrow, hitting all her targets. She was a hell of a archer, and no one could deny that.

Cosima burned the incoming beasts, their howls and screeches resonating in the empty town.  
Delphine sent her minion, Truffles, who relentlessly attacked with his ice magic while surprising Beth, who was grinning at the ridiculousness of their situation. They kept the monsters at a distance the best they could, but soon their attacks were going to be hand to hand combat, and Beth knew if that happened they were in deep shit. It was clear that the magic users were not adept at combat, and she was better shooting than wielding a sword. They needed Sarah to go and do the close attack, but only the gods knew if they were in trouble as well.  
“We need to get inside that house; we can keep shooting from the upper floor. I’ll provide cover, you two go.” Beth started to retreat while the two other girls burned and froze their enemies, opening the path to get cover inside the place Beth selected.

“All right, dipshits! Come and get me!” Beth unsheathed her sword, she was about to run out of arrows. They were 300 m away from the shelter so she had to give time to Cosima and Delphine. The beasts got close fast, and as soon as she was in sight they attacked. Beth slashed one after the other, keeping an eye on her group. The sword was glowing with crimson, the beasts limbs kept falling to the floor as Beth cut and thrust her sword. But she was not going to be able to keep holding them back. She finally got hit, the blow sending her to the floor getting hurt, another monster jumped at her and at the last second, flames surrounded the monsters and she got the chance to get away.  
Beth ran with all her speed and in seconds she was inside. Delphine slammed the door and barricaded the place.  
Beth sat on the cold floor, breathing heavily after the physical exertion. “There has to be a warlock somewhere, these things just keep coming!” She cleaned the blood smears from her face and cleaned her sword. She just prayed that Sarah and Rachel were okay, because they were going to be stuck here for a while.  
__________  
The princess and the elf rode outside town to where the Caves of Knife’s Edge lay. The waterfall that surrounded the caves would be a wonderful sight to enjoy if they weren’t looking for dark warlocks and corpses.  
They tied their horses near the pond and walked inside the caves. Sarah took out her sword and walked with caution. The sound of their footsteps resonated along the cave walls.  
“They need to write the spell with the townspeople’s blood, and this is the nearest place to town,” Sarah pointed out.  
“Then we better find it quickly and burn the place down.” Rachel walked right behind Sarah. The two of them moved through narrow passages, and deeper they went, the colder it felt.  
“What the hell?” Sarah shivered, the condensation of her breath clearly visible now.  
“This is not normal; a spell must be in place or…” A sound reverberated through the cave. Rachel gulped. Sarah reassured her that she was going to be fine, and they kept walking until they reached the ritual site.

“All right, let me spread this and off we go.” Sarah took out from her sachet Cosima’s flask with the spell they needed to burn the ritual remnants. Sarah spread it about, and right when she was about to leave, the beasts attacked.  
Sarah took care of it rather quickly, but the tight confines of the cave made it hard for her to move with the fluidity she possessed and also made it more difficult to get Rachel safe. Yet, Sarah did her job as best as she could, slashing at the cave monsters, and keeping them as far from Rachel as she could. Yet they kept coming. Sarah fought hard, keeping them at bay until there was not a single beast moving, all corpses on the floor bleeding to death.

Sarah was breathing heavily after fighting for what seemed like an hour. “Okay, we need to do this fast and get out, there are probably more monsters lurking around.” Sarah sheathed her sword and walked towards the area where she spilt the vial contents. She heard that Rachel stopped on her tracks, when she turned around to see what was taking her so long, she found Leekie holding a knife at Rachel’s neck. “You bastard!” Sarah burst. Just when she was about to strike, someone smacked her head and her world faded to black.  
“Sarah!” Rachel cried, trying to get away from the old man.  
“Relax Rachel, your elf is a tough nut to crack.” Aldous pulled Rachel to the other side of the cave, while his followers dragged Sarah, leaving a trail of blood behind.  
Aldous then tied Rachel to a chair and chained Sarah right beside her, then started to prepare the items to perform his dark magic.  
“Why would you do this, Aldous?” Rachel bleated. She was worried for Sarah, her head was bleeding profusely and she seemed to be unconscious.  
“Power, my dear. There will be a time when you will have to choose which side are you going to take. I have already decided.” Aldous kept working on his spell preparation.  
“To choose what? Betray your people?” Rachel was getting angrier by the moment.  
“I was faithful to my beliefs. Tell me Rachel, which side are you going to take when the time comes for you to choose between your people and your elf?” Aldous taunted, he knew her well, and after all he raised her.  
Rachel stood silent, she was not going to play this game, and she was not going to yield to his schemes.  
Aldous laughed “I know you care more for Sarah than what you let people believe. In the end, you will have to choose. That is your destiny, my young girl. You cannot have them both.” Aldous finished setting up his summoning spell. He grabbed a cup and a knife and took one of Rachel’s arms and cut her deep. Rachel hissed, but she refused to look away.  
“Everything went as planned. Now with the royal blood we can proceed with the spell.

Sarah blinked hard. Her ears were buzzing and her head throbbed. At first everything looked blurry, but the more she tried to focus, the clearer she saw her surroundings. She felt her hands were cuffed, but her legs were free. She looked around and there she found Rachel, arm bleeding.  
“Oi! Rachel, you okay?” Sarah croaked with difficulty.  
“Gods! You are alive!” Rachel said in relief.  
“Where is creepy Leekie?” She didn’t see the man around, just a couple of minions left to guard them.  
“He left to perform his summoning; he is trying to bring the Omega,” Rachel murmured.  
“What!? But Omega is dead. The last Omega perished in the Neolution Wars, it’s not possible!” Sarah whispered while she tried to get rid of her cuffs.  
“He just needed royal blood in order to revive the beast, all the other deaths weren’t necessary. This was a setup, Sarah.” Rachel delivered the terrible news. They have been played since the beginning.  
“Gods damn it!” Sarah’s hands were slippery now, the handcuffs bit into her wrist and the slippery blood made it easier for her to try to get rid of the cuffs. She just needed to break her thumb to do it.  
CRACK  
“Holy shite!” Sarah tightened her jaw to avoid making more noise, pulling a bit more and her left hand was free. She slowly moved behind Rachel to release her hands. She saw her weapons over the table near the minions so she had to move fast to get them. She ran and somersaulted over one minion, smashing it with her boots, she took her sword and hit the other creature, getting rid of their guards.  
“Alright, Rachel! You get the hell out of here, while I go for Leekie. Burn this place down and get the others.” Rachel’s heart clenched seeing how brave the girl in front of her was, all soaked in blood from head to toes and yet, she always pushed herself to the limit. Leekie was right. She was too attached to Sarah, too obsessed with her, she was… in love. However, she knew that while she remained who she was, people expected her to rule and command all of Leda, not be the lover of an elf.  
Sarah turned around to go and meet her faith, but she jerked Sarah’s arm and with a quick movement she kissed the elf. Sarah responded eagerly, pressing her closer to her, their hands desperate to feel the warmth of their bodies together. Sarah broke the kiss, rested her forehead on Rachel and sighed, probably out of fear that she might die.  
“Come back to me, elf,” Rachel whispered. “That’s an order.” She said it more in prayer than a real command. Sarah gave her that lopsided smile of hers, being the cocky elf that she was and went off to stop Leekie.


	10. Cormamin niuve tenna’ ta elea lle au’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter I highly recommend listening to The Lament of the Highborne song from WoW: The Burning Crusade, it is the perfect song to go with this chapter, so do yourself a favor and listen to it, particularly when our heroes return back home to set the mood. Happy? reading.

“What the hell is that?” Cosima looked through the window at the spiralling clouds on the horizon, turning darker. A black hole opened and a red of beam light seeped through the opening.  
“The summoning has begun,” Delphine remarked gravely.  
“That does not look good at all. That has to be a mother effing summoning, if you ask me.” Beth was getting ready to go, she knew that Sarah was there and she was not going to let her best friend, her sister in arms fight this alone.  
“You two finish dealing with this these monsters, I’ll take my horse and go with Sarah; as soon as you can follow me, do it, okay?” Beth instructed, making sure that they were ready to do it. Cosima and Delphine nodded.  
“Alright dude, as soon as we blow this thing, you run like hell.” Cosima reviewed the plan with Beth once more.  
“I got it.” Beth gave her a thumbs up and got ready to roll.  
The huge blast opened a path that allowed Beth to run for her horse. She kept running, the fire and ice blasting the monsters at her back, giving her the time she needed to make her escape.  
Once she reached the horse, she went straight to where that strange black cloud was forming. She hoped that she could be in time to aid her friend.  
____________  
The wind was blowing too strong. Sarah had to cover her face to protect her eyes from the dust flying her way, it was terribly dark and the thunder ripped through her ears. She saw Leekie at the epicenter of the storm, yet she had to deal first with the warlocks protecting him.  
She felt a bit dizzy right now; the gash on her head was open and she had lost already a lot of blood, but she wasn’t going to stop until she had her dagger in the throat of that old creep. The warlocks attacked, but Sarah dodged them, killing them swiftly. She kept going, yet when she heard the roars in the sky she stopped in her tracks to stare at the ominous beast that was coming out of the portal.  
“Bloody hell!” Sarah trembled. This was going to be a huge problem once that thing touched the ground. Sarah resumed her path towards Leekie.  
“You asshole, you have to stop, that thing is going to kill us all!” Sarah screamed to the top of her lungs, but Aldous was laughing like a maniac.  
“This is the beginning of a new era Sarah, look at it!” Aldous was completely mesmerized by the thing going down on them that he did not notice when Sarah jumped at him. She grabbed him by the collar of his robes “You have to stop it!” she demanded, but the man was laughing, lost in his delusions of grandeur.  
“You are insane, Leekie. Farewell.” Sarah slit his throat; she kept staring into his eyes until the light in them faded away. An explosion far away alerted Sarah that Rachel blew the ritual signs, but the damn beast did not disappear. This thing was not like any other minion she had encountered. This creature was autonomous, he didn’t need a summoner. Leekie was insane, and this shit of a monster would have never obeyed him.

The huge monster was the size of a two house story, and it had a centaur form but his body was made of scale-like skin. The core that glowing in the center of his chest was what kept him alive. The Omega roared and moved towards Sarah.  
“Dipshit, you need a hand?” Beth came to Sarah’s side, ready to shoot the humongous thing.  
“You took your time, hardass” Sarah wielded her dagger and sword, her left wrist had a broken thumb but at least her dominant hand could use her sword.  
“So, what’s the plan?” Beth wondered.  
“I need to get on top of that thing and destroy its core.” Beth nodded. “How many arrows you got left?” Sarah asked.  
“Eighteen shots.” Beth aimed at the monster.  
“All right, make them count.” With that, Sarah ran straight toward the Omega.  
The beast roared, firing shots with his eyes at Sarah, who dodged them the best she could, but with such a huge size it was difficult to get close. Beth kept firing, but his hard skin protected him from the arrows. Sarah reached one of his paws and buried her sword in it, deep, but the beast stomped, rattling the earth around them, making Sarah lose her balance. The Omega swept with its tail, sending Sarah flying. She hit a solid wall of rocks, and then fell to the floor. She was on her knees trying to get up; she spat out a clump of blood and was on her feet again.  
Beth tried her best to keep the beast’s attention, but her arrows were like feathers against its hard body. The only point she saw was unprotected where his eyes, but in that case she was going to have to be very close. Sarah was fighting and doing her best. She had to follow her example.

Sarah ran around the monster hurting him, but she was still away from his chest core. The beast threw blue flames that nearly burned Sarah and those sweeps with his tail were hurting her extremely badly. The only thing on her mind was that someone wanted her back. Yes, her demon bitch wanted her back and that was all that mattered to her.

The two elves kept fighting and damaging the Omega, but it was a hard opponent to beat. Finally, after several minutes, the backup arrived.  
“Wow, dude we are in huuuggee trouble.” Cosima was a mess, her face smudged with black from the extreme fire use. Delphine was at her side with her minion Truffles. Both were exhausted.  
“We need to slow him down, go for the legs, Cosima,” Delphine suggested.  
“Yeah. Obvs.” Cosima was already moving, and Delphine and Truffles went for the back legs, shooting their spells. The Omega was furious now that the four girls were working together. The beast growled and attacked, but the warriors were fighting as fiercely as they could. Sarah finally had a chance to get on the hideous beast and jumped at his chest, stabbing him in his core. The Omega shook Sarah off and she fell horribly to the floor, cracking some ribs.

The beast was enraged at the elf who stabbed him. Sarah tried to stand up, but she was very dizzy. The beast had twisted its body and its tail was in full sweep, about to stab Sarah. From there, everything moved in slow motion.  
Beth aimed her last arrow right at where Sarah stabbed had the beast, but that did not slow down the monster. She ran at it with all her might and pushed Sarah to the side.  
Sarah shook her head, trying to recover from what just happened and then she saw her. Beth with eyes wide open, her torso impaled by the tail.  
“No!, NOOOOOOOO!” Sarah screamed, enraged. She jumped and cut the tail and with a quick motion of her hand she threw her dagger to the core in the beast chest. The Omega roared in pain and slowly started to vanish.

Beth crumpled, a pool of blood forming quickly around her body. Sarah kneeled beside her friend and cradled her in her arms, tears streaming down her blood streaked face.  
“Beth, why!? Why you did it?” Sarah choked out between sobs.  
“You are my sister, dipshit. My job… is to take care of you.” Beth coughed, the blood was suffocating her.  
“Please Cosima, do something!!!” Sarah caressed the elf’s long hair, touching her cold skin in an attempt to keep her warm.  
“I can’t, I’m so sorry.” Cosima put her hand on Sarah’s shoulder and squeezed it resignedly  
“Bloody shite Beth, it was me who had to go, not you!” Sarah hugged the dying elf. Beth put her hand over Sarah’s.  
“You can’t go yet asshole, you have… to protect... them, only you can do it.” Beth’s breaths were more irregular, her voice was now a croak “Tell Ali that I love her. I am…taking our memories with me.” Beth took a deep breath and looked into the sky that was clearing already and exhaled her last word “Alison.”  
“AAAAARGH!” Sarah’s screamed until she ran out of breath.

 

Three days later, they returned to Dyad. When Alison went to welcome them, she noticed that only four girls rode horses and in a carriage behind them, there was a corpse wrapped in cloth.  
“No, no, no, you have to be kidding me. Where is Beth?!” Alison hugged herself defensively. Sarah limped towards Alison. “I am so sorry, this is my fault.” Alison shook her head in complete denial. “No Sarah, Beth is fine, where the hell is she?” Alison demanded. “She said that she loves you and that she took your memories with her.” She trembled, tears falling from her eyes. Sarah hugged her,, but Alison responded violently, smacking Sarah hard, but the elf hugged her harder. “The last thing she said was your name.” The sob exploded and Alison cried against Sarah’s shoulder.

The day of the burial was difficult for Alison. Nobody had known what happened between them. Most people thought they were really good friends, which they were, but they were also lovers. The high elves paid their respects; there was no bigger honor than to die fighting as a warrior, especially after people heard that they killed the Omega. Sarah felt like crap. she blamed herself for Beth’s death; she had barely spoken since that day. She failed her sister of the heart and now she had caused pain to another friend as well, because she had been too weak to protect them. She approached Beth’s casket and talked to her one last time.  
“I can’t protect them, Beth. I failed you! How do you expect me to protect them all?” Sarah’s throat felt raspy, and her body still ached from all of the wounds the monsters inflicted on her. She took off the one ring that she wore on her left hand and put it over the casket.  
“Amin hiraetha. Cormlle naa tanya tel'raa Beth. Lle naa curucuar. Tenna' san', quel kaima. Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au.'” She stood up and left.  
[I’m sorry. You’re heart is of the lion, Beth. You are a skillful bowman. Until then, sleep well. My heart shall weep until it sees thee again.]

 

One full moon passed after the burial of Elizabeth Childs, but Sarah seemed to be stuck in a constant state of sorrow and guilt. She was drinking her guilt and fighting with drunkards, day and night. Every time her consciousness returned, she only saw Beth’s blood coating her hands and she went immediately to drink more to forget. Cosima tried many times to make her come to her senses, but the guilt was too much to handle. Rachel had no clue how to help her; she simply was too damn cold to feel anything empathy. The princess spent too much time building walls up, and now that her beloved needed her, she had no idea what to do to ease her pain.  
Over and over again she returned to spend her coins in alcohol and start fist fights until she was kicked out of the taverns.  
Sarah fell on her face, covering her face in mud and dirt. She started to laugh at her ridiculous situation; she crawled to a nearby tree and sat there to finish off her bottle of whiskey. “Alright then, I’m not coming back to this damn tavern!” She spat.  
“Aka’Magosh,” said a female voice.  
“Wha’, are you effing serious?” Sarah laughed and took another sip of alcohol. “Shit, my translator is six feet under mate. I don’t understand Orcish.” Sarah took another long sip.  
“You are the Omega killer, yes?” The thick accent making her frown, but she shrugged.  
“I guess.” Sarah kept drinking more. Her head was fuzzy and her tongue felt heavy in her mouth.  
“But you are broken; I can’t have fun with you like this!” The girl with the green cape said.  
“You wanna fight? No problem.” Sarah stood up with much difficulty, she almost fell to the floor and she leaned heavily into the other woman for stability.  
“Nice tats you have on your arms, are they runes?” Sarah slurred.  
“Yes.” The girl looked deeply into the elf’s eyes.  
“Why does your cape smell like low tide?” Sarah started to laugh, she straightened up and drank from her bottle.  
“What is your name?” The orc asked in wonder.  
“Sarah!” Alison was walking towards her.  
The elf turned around to greet her friend.  
“Hey Alison, I was just chatting with-“ Sarah looked around for the girl, but she was gone. When she turned to face Alison, she was met with a well aimed slap.  
“Don’t you dare to keep throwing your life away, Sarah Manning! Beth didn’t die to see you drink yourself to death! Snap out of it, now!” Alison was furious; of course she had the right to be mad. It was because of her that she was now all alone.  
“I was supposed to die, Alison. Not her.” Sarah tipped her bottle again, but Alison hit her and the bottle fell cracking into tiny glasses.  
“No more words!” Alison blurted angrily.  
Sarah saw a couple of soldiers approaching her, accompanied by Rachel.  
“Take her!” Rachel commanded.  
“Oi! Oi! What are you doing? Let me go, yeah?” Sarah struggled a bit but she was very drunk, she was sloppy and not coordinated at all.  
“Thank you Alison, I will now take care of this,” Rachel affirmed.  
“Are you sure the best plan is to lock her up in the dungeons?” Alison was still a bit concerned regarding the rehab plan for Sarah.  
“It is for the best, Alison. That idiot needs to come back to us. To me.” Rachel sighed. It was time to take extreme measures. Sarah was not going to waste her youth in this, and she was a warrior, a proud one. Rachel was going to do whatever it took to bring the old Sarah to her.  
The lioness she loved so much.


	11. Sleeping with the Enemy

Two weeks had passed and Sarah still remained in the dungeons, desperate for just one sip of whiskey, anything that would help her forget. The nightmares were constant, the tremors were bad, and her screams at night ripped through the soul of the princess, who never thought she could feel so heartbroken for anybody. Rachel wanted to comfort her, and hold her tight, but she knew her lioness well. That was the last thing she would want. The progress had been slow, and Rachel was afraid that she was going to lose her for real; the first days were painful for all of her friends. The guilt was eating her alive.  
When Rachel recalled the first days, it was the worst of Sarah Manning she had seen; she was not the brave elf she knew, and it was horrible.  
DAY 1  
“Cosima, please just one tiny sip, I swear that’s all I need! One. Last. Drink.” Sarah pleaded, but Cosima didn’t bend. “Dude, this tea will help you, I promise, but no booze. I did the mixture myself, I swear it’ll help with the headaches”. Cosima left the teapot in the cell and sat to read, being company for her friend. Sarah reacted violently, screaming and kicking the metal bars of the dungeon.  
DAY 2  
“Cosima, she is having a seizure, get in here!” Delphine opened the cell and went to treat the elf with magic. None of them were healers, but they could perform simple spells to deal with the seizures. It was the only thing they could do.  
“Got it, let’s move her to the bed.” Cosima touched Sarah’s skin. “Shit Delphine, she’s burning up!”  
“I think we need to prepare a mixture of herbs that can fight the toxicity in her body,” Delphine suggested.  
“Awesome, I’d love to do crazy magic with you.” Cosima grinned at the taller sorceress.  
DAY 3  
“Beth? I am so sorry, please forgive me.” Sarah extended her hand out into the air, where it hung, suspended in the moment.  
“What is she doing?” Alison asked in shock.  
“She has been hallucinating the last few hours. I think it’s better if you don’t come visit while this stuff lasts,” Cosima warned.  
Alison sighed. “It’s okay Cosima, I’ll be fine. Beth made me strong, stronger than you could have ever imagined.”  
DAY 4  
“Gods dammit, let me go. I need to go, you don’t understand!!!” Sarah was screaming at the top of her lungs, the desperation in her voice even more difficult to deal with. Her frustration made her more violent and aggressive, and she began to punch the hard rock walls, busting her knuckles up, until Delphine knocked her out with a spell.  
“Shit! What did you do, Delphine?!” Cosima raised her eyebrows in shock.  
“Sorry, chérie, it is for the best.” Delphine took Cosima’s hand and squeezed it gently to reassure her. Cosima smiled back.  
“Chain her up. She will be angry, but it’s for her own safety.” Rachel ordered.  
DAY 5  
Sarah kept staring at the ceiling. It was well past midnight, but she didn’t dare to try to sleep. The nightmares felt too real, the blood staining her hands, the smell of death. It was too much.  
“You need to sleep, love.” Mrs. S had arrived the day before to see her student. It was sad to see her so broken.  
“Beth died a warrior, why won’t you honor her the way she deserves?” Mrs. S asked.  
“Because I failed her. I am weak.” She sighed.  
“Yes, you are weak; you are letting this destroy you slowly. Beth would be ashamed of you, my dear.” Mrs. S’ words resonated in her mind.

 

Two weeks after that and Sarah was a bit better. She was still depressed, but at least she was drinking the tea mixture and eating better. However, she was still not the girl Rachel wanted back, the one she desired in her bed.  
“Leave us.” Rachel commanded the soldiers and Cosima left her alone in the dungeon with the elf. She entered the cell and locked it. This might be a bit risky, but she had to make her snap. It was the only way to bring her favorite elf to normal.  
“Get up!” Rachel stood a couple of steps from her bed, she was unchained already, so she was free to move around her cell, yet she had spent the last days lying in bed.  
“I said get up!” At that Sarah looked at her, calling her attention. She frowned, but did as told.  
“What the fuck do you want?” Sarah spat with disinterest.  
Rachel did not waste time slapping her, her right hand whipping her left cheek, the sound echoing against the dungeon walls. Her cheek was red, her face shocked. Sarah stared again at the princess. “Look princess, if you came here to-“ but she backhanded her on the right cheek. A third slap was coming but Sarah caught her before she could do that again.  
“Bloody hell, would you stop already!?” Sarah retorted in anger.  
“Exactly my thoughts. Stop already. Enough of this self-pity party.” Rachel eyes did not flinch or waver; her anger was level with Sarah’s.  
“What do you want from me!?” Sarah barked.  
“You know what I want.” Her tone soft as silk, Rachel tilted her head. When Sarah’s eyes turned gold, she knew she had her right where she wanted.  
Sarah gulped, hesitating until Rachel parted her lips. Sarah claimed her mouth in a second, the fierceness of the kiss driving them into madness. The kiss was drowning them both in lust, anger and frustration. Sarah’s arms snaked around the princess, pressing their bodies closer.  
Rachel’s tongue danced inside Sarah’s mouth, and the elf bit back softly, a moan escaping the princess’s throat, sending the young warrior to ecstasy. Sarah pushed Rachel onto her bed and climbed on top of her, kissing her neck. Hard and soft, hurting and soothing, Rachel’s hands traveled along the elf’s strong back, scraping her skin over the thin material.  
The elf tore apart the princess’s corset, revealing her bosom. Rachel arched her back to give her access and Sarah went for it, sucking and nipping, Rachel’s moans sending her to new levels of madness. While Sarah traveled her body, mapping and canvassing it, she saw the small bite scar on her shoulder.  
“Shit.” Sarah stopped in her tracks, looking at the old wound. Rachel cupped her face softly and made her look at her.  
“What is it?” she asked tenderly.  
“I failed to you too. This was my fault.” She traced the thin lines marring her skin.  
“You always do you best, you saved me idiot, why can’t you see it?” Rachel was getting impatient with her. If she didn’t do anything, they would be back at square one. Rachel pushed Sarah to the side and straddled her, tearing apart her shirt and revealing her naked chest. Scars stretched everywhere, from sword cuts to arrows to beasts’ wounds, all of them distributed over her tight abs, shoulders, and chest.  
“These were meant for me, but you stood in the way. You are not a failure, Sarah Manning, you are my protector, my elf, my friend (my lover was something she did not say). I need you.” Rachel gave her the truth, and at least what she was allowed to say.  
Sarah closed her eyes, she remained silent for a couple of minutes until she opened her eyes again and exhaled softly.  
“I am sorry, your grace. I am your protector, and I shall do my job until I die.” Sarah removed herself from under Rachel’s weight with care. She lowered her head and closed her shirt. “A lady like you should never see something as disgusting as me. Your soft skin shall never be touched by these rough hands again.” Sarah couldn’t keep staring at her, the shame was too much.

It pained Rachel to see how little did she thought of herself; if only she knew that those scars were actually more arousing for her. She had no clue how much she wanted to trace them with her hands and lips. But Rachel didn’t say anything. She had to keep her composure as well; after all she was royal, she could not show weakness or pain, ever.  
“Very well.” She fixed her clothes and left without looking back.  
____________  
“I am so glad you were around to help with Sarah, Delphine.” Cosima said while heating a potion in her laboratory, which the princess had kindly offered usage of to her.  
“Oh non, it’s nothing. I did it gladly.” Delphine mixed a couple of flasks together, and a rosy smoke arose, making the sorceress cough and smear her face with pink tinges.  
“Easy there, sorceress. You did it too fast.” Cosima grabbed a damp cloth, cupping Delphine’s face. “Here, allow me.” She gently cleaned her face to remove the pinkish stains. Delphine gave her a sweet smile.  
“Merci.”  
“So, you’re leaving soon, I guess? Back to Black Mountain?” Cosima was wistful; she really wanted her to stay, but what reasons could the blonde beauty would have to be around Dyad?  
“Oui, I leave for Carran the day after tomorrow and I shall be at Aramoor in a week or so,” Delphine explained. That meant that the faerie had one night to say goodbye to Delphine. She had to think of something nice. At least she had made a friend.

The two kept working, testing potions and sharing tips. It was very interesting to learn about the different magic users of Leda, especially when warlocks were more reticent in that aspect. Delphine felt happy here. This little faerie had make her feel more things in the short amount of time they spent together than in all of her life in the company of the warlocks. But she had to go; what she did was something she could never forgive herself for. She had been the one that warned Leekie about their quest to Greyfey, she was the one who had been providing magical aide. She was the one that allowed the disaster that ruined the lives of these wonderful people.  
“Hey, are you okay?” The soft touch of the dreadlocked faerie startled her.  
“Oh, je suis desolé, I was distracted! Sorry.” Delphine gave her a reassuring smile, one that felt too fake to Cosima, who tilted her head and frowned her burrow.  
“I think you need to take some time off. I know a cool place where they have this delicious treat. Come on.” Cosima flashed that huge smile; she grabbed Delphine’s hand and guided her out of the lab.

The place was small and very cozy; the woods surrounded the area, making the scenery even more beautiful. Cosima and Delphine sat at one of the tables outside, enjoying the surroundings and of course, each other’s company.  
“Take a bite, I promise that you’re going to become a craving addict.” Cosima bit the tip of her treat; she closed her eyes enjoying the flavors. Delphine kept staring at her face, the delight and enjoyment of the faerie was simply beautiful to see.  
“Delphine, it’s going to melt. Go on!” Cosima encouraged her, thinking that she was hesitant, when she was actually hypnotized by her.  
She took a small bite. “Mmm, it is very good. What is this?”  
“Eskimo Pie. It’s delicious.” Cosima said with exquisite pleasure. It was very clear that she loved the treat.  
Delphine nodded, “Oui, it is very delicious.” A bark at their sides called their attention, and Delphine looked to the side of the table to find her minion, Truffles.  
“Qu'est-ce que tu fais? Truffles! I did not summon you.” Delphine looked at the pup wiggling his tail like crazy.  
“Dude, Truffles, you want some?” Cosima offered a small piece of her bar. Truffles barked and jumped happily. “Here you go.” Truffles licked the piece and started to devour it in seconds.  
“Cosima! You are pampering my minion.” Delphine was indignant.  
“Yeah, you are a good doggie, yeah.” Cosima was petting the minion like it was a normal pet.  
“Cosima, Truffles it’s not a dog.” That little guy could freeze your ass in a second.  
“I bet he does, yes Truffles?” Truffles barked happily, Cosima forgot about her Eskimo Pie completely, and in a second she was on the floor playing with Truffles. Delphine propped her elbows on the table to gaze at those two. She could live for that smile alone. the way she talked with her hands was like a symphony, sometimes slow, sometimes intense. The way the eyeliner framed her hazel eyes and over them rested those black rims was just the cherry on top. She loved everything that was Cosima Niehaus.

They both returned to Cosima’s place. Truffles was gone for the day, so that left the two of them alone. Cosima lit the fireplace with magic, of course. She had always been the flirty one, even with magic. She offered Delphine wine and they both spoke for a while. Delphine couldn’t stop looking at the faeries’ lips, in return she bit her own, trying to contain the gay happiness that she felt.  
“It’s really nice to meet some who gets it, who gets me,” Delphine commented.  
“Yeah. Ditto. Obvs.” Cosima nodded and smiled in content agreement.  
Delphine took a long sip of wine. It was her last night here, she might as well cold make the best of it, she thought. “I can’t stop thinking about that kiss.”

Cosima looked at her, not sure if what she heard was right. “Like, not in a bad way?”  
“Like, I never considered being attracted to a woman before. As a warlock, that is not part of our society, yet, here in the southern regions, it seems more common, more right.” Delphine was a bit embarrassed, yet she felt less troubled for admitting something that was true, for once.  
“That’s oddly romantic... and totally encouraging.” Cosima gulped, not sure how the sorceress was going to take it. Yet, she didn’t have to wait long, because Delphine caressed her lips with the tip of her thumb and suddenly was kissing her like her life depended on it.

One thing led to another, and in bed they finished their farewell party. Cosima topped like the master she was. Delphine had no idea in what had she gotten into, but she was glad that she had. The way Cosima made her feel was the most awesome feeling on earth. She had no idea how many times did she came.  
Cosima gave her everything, and if she was doing it to convince her to stay, she was on the right path, but so far, everything was too complex.  
In the middle of the night, Truffles appeared and licked Delphine’s face to wake her up. She blinked in sleepy surprise. “Merde, Truffles!” she whispered. “Now is not the time, go away!” Delphine tried to resume her sleep, but her minion was insistent. She sat on the bed careful to not disturb the naked faerie sleeping beside her. Delphine smiled at the perfection of Cosima. Her dreads loose on her back, the tattoos on her forearm and wrist were a surprise to her since her robes covered her body. Delphine felt like a kid, like she was discovering things for the first time again. It was a unique sensation. Truffles interrupted her train of thought once again. “Okay, okay, I am going.”  
Delphine followed Truffles through the messy rooms until he stopped at her bag. She opened it and saw the crystal she used to communicate with Aldous glow.  
“Merde! This is not possible.” She took the crystal and walked out of the room. She activated with an enchantment. “Alló?”  
“Miss Cormier, I heard that you served Aldous well. Now you can continue your work with us,” A man, with greyish hair ordered.  
“Aldous is dead. My obligations are over, I am done with this!” Delphine was extremely displeased with this new situation.  
“Aldous was a fool who did not know when to back off. We can continue without him. You will remain in Dyad until further notice.” The man was about to cut the communication when Delphine made one last question.  
“Wait, but who are you?” Delphine waited for an answer.  
“You should already know, Aldous must have mentioned me. I’ll contact you soon.” And he cut off the connection. She already suspected it, but she wanted to be wrong.  
“Tomas.”


	12. The Angry Angel

Delphine couldn’t sleep after she spoke with Tomas. She knew that the orc was worse than Leekie, she had heard stories of his treachery. The Orcs tended to be very strict with severe punishment for their own highly-revered religious beliefs. They also had in their army The Angry Angel, who was a warrior so lethal that when they sent her to war, it was a guaranteed victory.  
Delphine was in serious trouble. She had to leave this place and disappear, and didn’t want to cause more damage than she already did, not now that she had let the adorable petite faerie into her life. Cosima stirred on her side, she blinked and gave her a smile. She squinted her eyes a bit to focus her sight, her fave lacking her trademark glasses.

“Morning!” she said happily.  
“Bonjour Cosima.” Delphine propped her head up on her elbow and looked at the smaller girl. She had to leave today. It was for the best.   
“I better get up. Would you like me to prepare breakfast, ma chérie?” Delphine started to dress herself.  
“Yeah, sure.” Cosima did not sound very excited, as she knew that this was goodbye. She was so attached to the sorceress, so connected, it was hard to imagine her life without her, which was ridiculous since they had met only a few weeks ago. She put on her glasses and smiled, refusing to look sad on her last day with Delphine.  
Delphine wanted to come clean regarding her relationship with Leekie, but she was afraid of Cosima’s reaction, afraid that she was not going to forgive her after all the damage she had inflicted. The best she could hope was that the faerie forget her and moved on. She knew she didn’t deserve her.  
__________  
“Mmhmm, yes, that feels wonderful.” Rachel purred. She was laying down receiving massage on her back. Rachel decided to have a relaxing day with Alison, so they went for a massage and a hot bath. Sarah was standing nearby. After weeks of living in hell, she had finally been released from the dungeons a day ago, and returned to her normal duties. She still was dragging guilt along with her, but she could live with that.  
“Oh yes, right there.” Rachel continued with her unnecessary remarks.  
Sarah was seriously uncomfortable listening to that idiot’s innuendos. Sarah had no purpose being inside the massage cabin, yet the princess had requested her presence.  
“My lady, may I stay outside? I think I will be more effective in a wider space than here.” Sarah tried to be polite and respectful, but Her Royal Bitch did not yield.

“You stay right where you are, elf. You might be of use as well.” Rachel tilted her head in her direction and smirked. Bloody hell. Sarah knew she was up to something. That girl strived to make her life a living hell.  
“Rachel, give Sarah a break, maybe the oils are bothering her!” Alison was in the bed beside Rachel, also getting massaged but on her feet. Oh Alison, she was clueless. The smell was too good, and seeing how the oils were spread along her back, giving her that glow against the light, was too much for poor Sarah. She already knew that fighting this stupid attraction for the princess was going to be rough, but the problem was that Rachel was making it more difficult for her, especially after she had sort of rejected her move in the dungeons.  
“Very well. You may wait outside, elf,” Rachel acknowledged. Sarah got out and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. She felt more at ease here. At least she wouldn’t have to hear that damn controlling bitch.

A couple of minutes later the two girls left the massage cabin, it seemed that it was time to get back to the palace.  
“Oh no, I am going to the hot pool. You sure you don’t want to stay a bit more Alison?” Rachel was only covered by a white cloth around her torso. Her skin smelled like eucalyptus, or gods knows what mixture of oils she used.  
“No, thank you. I have to be back in the dorm early.” Alison gave them a melancholy smile. She was still hurting for Beth, but she did a good job of concealing it. Alison exited the place, leaving the princess and her protector to their chores.

Rachel and Sarah walked to a wide room with a huge pool of hot water. Of course, being the princess meant the place was completely closed for her exclusive use. Sarah took a look around to identify possible entrance or exits, just like she learned at the academy. Once she made her perimeter review she gave a nod to Rachel to allow her to proceed.  
She took off the cloth and walked to the pool, but instead of getting inside she walked around it, slowly, teasingly, on purpose. Sarah had to look off in another direction, seeing the demon bitch naked was a constant problem in her dreams, to now see it live for her own pleasure. Not.  
“My lady, you should get inside; we don’t want you to get sick, yeah?” Sarah tried to sound reasonable. But the princess always knew what buttons to push to drive her insane.  
“That is a bit irresponsible, elf. You are supposed to keep your eyes on me all the time.” Rachel tested the water temperature with the tip of her foot.  
“I can hear you very well your grace, no need to see.” Sarah was quick to respond.  
Rachel smiled and finally entered the pool; the only thing visible was her head over the water. She reclined her body as much as she could and let her head rest on a fluffy pillow. She closed her eyes, letting the hot water sooth her body.

“I have been thinking about Greyfey,” Rachel stated. Sarah stood quietly, she really didn’t want to relieve that horrible day again.  
“Leekie knew…” Rachel asserted. Sarah had her attention. Indeed, thinking about it, it made sense, he told them that they just had to wait for them to fall on their trap.  
“Yeah, you are right. I totally forgot about that.” Sarah straddled a chair that was close to her.  
“Leekie had a spy, who knew about the plan but us.” Rachel stifled a yawn.  
“Only us. Wait, Beth would never, nor Alison. Cosima is weird but, shit. Delphine.” Sarah looked at Rachel who was, asleep?.  
“Oi! Princess.” Sarah stood up and walked to the edge of the hot pool, frowning.  
Rachel started to slip and she was at the bottom of the pool in no time.  
“Oi Rachel, this is not funny, yeah?” Sarah was getting anxious. “Bloody posh bitch! what the hell are you doing?” Sarah saw that Rachel was still underwater; she panicked. Immediately she removed her boots, weapons and vest and jumped into the pool. It was searing her skin, but not so much that it burned. She saw Rachel in the deep part of the pool, and picked her up and swam to the surface. She tapped her cheeks softly. “Rachel!? Wake up, please!” Sarah was scared to death, she checked her pulse, which was fine. She was about to get some help when Rachel opened her eyes, she smiled mischievously and kissed the hell out of the elf.

“For the gods, that was not funny!” Sarah broke the kiss to Rachel’s dismay. “I thought you were drowning, shite!”  
Rachel cupped her face. “You make me do irrational things, elf.” She kissed her hard and wild, Sarah pushed her away but she clung to her. Sarah pushed harder and Rachel ended up biting her lip, drawing blood.  
“This needs to stop. I can’t, you can’t; why do you like to torture me so much?” Sarah asked pleadingly.  
“I want to fuck you all the time, is that so bad?” She pressed her naked body to the elf, the heat of the water warming their bodies even more.  
“I am not a fucking toy, Rachel. I am not your property.” Sarah cautioned; her eyes between gold and brown, her common sense fighting her physical desires.  
“Wrong. You are mine, elf, and I will do as I please with you.” Rachel did not backed down either. She smiled and let Sarah go; she got out of the pool and went to get dressed.  
Sarah got out of the pool, dripping water everywhere, her heart feeling like it was about to explode from her chest. Her lip was bleeding and her resolve about to shatter. She wanted to shag the princess, that she could acknowledge, and Rachel knew that she felt it too. Sarah was not going to deny herself that pleasure if there was a next time; she was done behaving, maybe if she let her lust win, maybe this need to want her would stop. She wanted to be done with this, but, what if she ended being more obsessed? Or worse, in love.  
“Shite.”

Sarah was trying to dry her hair but with the humidity and heat of the pool, it was a difficult task. Her clothes were completely drenched, so there was no point in bothering with that. Rachel appeared again, all dressed and ready to go. Again, she was composed, like she hadn’t rubbed her naked body against her protector, like she hadn’t ever kissed and bit her lip until it bled. How she could do that? It was like she had a switch that she could turn on and off at will.  
“Let’s go, we’re going to Cosima’s place,” Rachel ordered, and walked towards the exit and left. Sarah hurried, dressing swiftly and went after her.  
____________  
Cosima took a long drag. She was on her bed, trying to forever memorize the sweet smell of her Mountaineer puppy. After breakfast, Delphine finished packing her things and left Dyad. And the gods knew that she was going to miss her, her one night stand was all she was going to have to remember.  
A knock on the door brought her back from puppy land. “One moment, be right there!” The faerie announced. She checked herself in her mirror to make sure that she looked decent and went to open the door.  
“Hey it’s the princess and her slave, er, elf!” Cosima chuckled.  
“You’re high again, aren’t you? Great. Just great. Do you know the whereabouts of Delphine?” Sarah asked impatiently.  
“Dude, where’s the fire? And why are you drenched?” Cosima started to laugh with more enthusiasm, holding her aching stomach from the laughter.  
“Can we come in?” Rachel asked.  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, please.” Cosima opened the door wider for the two girls and offered them a seat. She took a seat as well and put her joint away.  
“We need to find Delphine, Cos. It’s important.” Sarah looked at her friend, who had tilted her head, trying to understand why they were so insistent.  
“Okay dude, but she’s already left. Why are you two looking for her?” Cosima’s expression was of intense worry and fear.

Sarah took a deep breath before explaining their theory to the faerie about Delphine’s spy duties for Leekie and how she had led them into a trap.  
Cosima’s hands were resting on her head, processing the new information as objectively as she could. She could not deny that possibility, especially since what Sarah had said made sense. And yet, a part of her wanted to dismiss the information. She desperately wanted to trust the sorceress, especially after how right it felt to be with her.  
“Shit. It makes sense, are you sure we were the only ones with the plan?” Cosima grasped for the last thread of hope she had.

“Sorry Cos, it’s the only explanation.” Sarah noticed her friend’s disappointed expression, and it made her feel angry for her. She was going to kick that blonde’s willowy arse.  
“But how did they communicate? Neither of them are dark magic users, so that’s impossible for me to make sense of. And to scry with each other, they would need a pool and orb.” Cosima snapped her fingers, recalling their first encounter.  
“I met her during the spring festival, which means she was in town way before she finally announced her presence to you.” Cosima was into something, her head spinning with ideas and theories.  
“All right, why would Leekie need her here? She is a frost specialist, yeah?” Sarah considered this fact.  
“Right, she doesn’t do dark magic. However, ice element users are good at creating special crystals with unique properties. That’s how they talked! There must be something else, though, or I don’t think Aldous would have contacted her,” Cosima concluded.  
“I will speak with the warlock council to find more about her. Sarah, you can meet me later at the palace. Daniel will escort me.” Rachel excused herself and left the two alone.  
“I should have known better, of course no one would be interested in hanging out with me.” Cosima was now depressed, and it made Sarah’s heart clench.  
“Cos, don’t say that! You deserve better. And you have me.” Sarah tried to be as sympathetic as she could.  
“Right, because you’re a ray of sunshine, dude. You complete me.” Cosima grinned.  
“You are such a bitch. I’m trying to make you feel better, and you give me that nonsense! Geez Cos.” Sarah smiled back. The two of them talked a bit more; for some reason, they felt very comfortable sharing things with one another. With Alison it was difficult because she probably would freak out if she heard their discussions, so it was better to keep certain things between them.  
____________  
WOOF WOOF!  
“I know, Truffles. I miss her too, but we can’t put her in danger.” Delphine concluded sadly. With a defeated sigh, she accepted that it was for the best. She had to let the faerie go, for her own good.  
The carriage stopped so suddenly that she almost fell from her seat. The screams of the driver scared her to death.  
“What is going on!?” Delphine opened the carriage curtain to peek, but she saw nothing. She had to get off to see what was going on. She slowly pushed the door open and got out.

“Mon Dieu!” she gasped. The driver was completely soaked in blood. His glassy stare was lost in the distance, his torso completely torn, and his organs exposed were from the huge gash on his belly. Delphine covered her mouth in disgust, feeling sick to her stomach.  
“Going somewhere, sorceress?” A female voice with a thick accent murmured. Delphine turned around slowly to face her opponent.  
In front of her was a girl with pale skin, bloodshot eyes, and blonde curly hair. She held her sword in her left hand, dripping blood over the soil and her green cape covered her lean frame.  
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Delphine was already forming ice within her hands.  
“You were supposed to wait for orders, yes?” The girl walked towards Delphine.  
“Tomas? I will not do it. I will not help him!” Delphine released the ice, but the orc deflected her easily. Truffles attacked as well, but the girl was too fast. Delphine took out her dagger just in time before the other girl ripped her head off, the clash of metal resonating in the silent valley.  
“You have talent, sorceress, but you are not the Omega slayer, you are not Sarah!” She swung with easy strength, throwing Delphine to the soil, she kicking her arm hard. The dagger flying a distance away. Truffles came to the rescue, tugging hard on the green cape and revealing the scarred back of the girl.  
“The Angry Angel.” Delphine whispered in despair, she had heard the stories, she knew the legends, and now she saw for herself.  
“Helena. It is Helena.” She said, amused.  
Truffles froze her legs in place giving time to Delphine to run toward the carriage.  
“Truffles!” she called with urgency. She took a out a crystal with her bloody hand, and gave it to Truffles.  
“Take this to Cosima. Don’t stop, Truffles, you give this to her!” She heard the ice crack; she nodded once to Truffles who ran like his ass was on fire.  
“Just kill me already!” Delphine screamed.  
“No, to die would be very easy. I will play a bit more.” And Helena slashed, slicing her arm open. Delphine screamed in agony, but she formed an icicle and stabbed Helena with it, but that only slowed down her a bit, she then punched Delphine several times until her eyesight was blurry, her features covered by blood. She really wished in that moment to be dead.  
“Good night, sorceress.” One more punch and her world dimmed to pitch black.


	13. Lost and Found

“I spoke with the warlock council, the scrying session’s stability was hard to maintain, but I got information that may be enlightening.” Rachel sat in the library with Cosima, Alison and Sarah. After a day filled with conflicting emotions, the girls researched what exactly Delphine could have been doing before she showed her face to them.  
“Delphine was a brilliant student and she had a very unique talent. She could make orbs and crystals with special properties infused into them,” Rachel added.  
“Whoa, that’s very rare indeed. To create an orb with active magical properties is a weird talent. Magicians usually buy the orbs and then, with spells we infuse them with magic,” Cosima explained.

“Exactly, and that’s what attracted her to Leekie. He took her under his wing and gods knows what else.” What Rachel implied did not sound good at all to the faerie.  
“What!? No, she would never…” Cosima’s rebuttal died on her lips. she did lie, so of course there was that possibility. Cosima stood up, excused herself and left. She needed to clear her head, so she returned home.  
“Rachel, that was not necessary!” Alison reprimanded.  
“I was stating the facts. The thing is that the warlocks lost control of Leekie years ago. They knew he was serving my family, but what they found later was that Leekie was allied with an orc as well. Tomas.” Rachel was now sure that those were the ones that wanted her dead.  
“Orcs? That is troublesome. After they lost the Neolution war they stayed in The Dunes.” Sarah contemplated this new threat.

“Any word from Dakasnik?” Alison wondered about the Orc regimen in their capital city.  
“None, but I fear that Tomas might come out of his hole now that Leekie is dead.” Rachel took a sip of her tea. She needed clarity among the imminent darkness that was coming, and she had to think what to do.  
“Gods, what if they send the Angry Angel?”  
“What are you talking Alison? What is that?” Sarah asked.  
“Have you not heard the stories? The rumors say that it is a warrior so powerful and lethal that they alone have eliminated entire villages in the southern part of the continent. They say this orc can wander alone in the Marshlands and that no beast will challenge him.”  
Sarah laughed. “Oh, that is ridiculous! Bring that Angel any time, I will deal with them.”  
“Of course you have not heard, you spent most of your life in the Academy. Sarah, but the stories have to be real if so much people have heard of them, and you shouldn’t be so cocky. You have improved after Greyfey, but that does not mean you should be too confident about your abilities,” Rachel reprimanded her protector, and added, “I’ll notify Art to be on standby. The army should be ready, just in case Tomas decides to make a visit.”  
______________  
Cosima went to the citadel park, lay on the grass under the shadow of an oak tree, lit a joint and smoked. Her heart and mind were conflicted right now over Delphine. She wanted to see her, demand an explanation, but more than that she wanted to see her eyes to know if she ever cared for her. If that one night stand was meaningful, or just a means to an end.

She couldn’t deny that she had been stupid; she was completely fooled by that smile, the freckles, the accent, all of her. Blinded by her beauty and intelligence, however, deep down all she wanted was to hear that Delphine cared for her. One word and she would be on her knees again. That was what scared her the most. That without thinking, she would surrender herself to the sorceress.  
Cosima finished smoking, standing up and shaking her clothes out to remove the tiny grass spears and dirt and started to make her way back home; she did not want to return to the palace to talk about Delphine with Rachel and company, it was just too painful. The way back to her apartment was quick; the townspeople were running about their usual business, like there was no threat outside of the walls of the citadel, just following their daily life habits. How could she ever get back to her usual routine? Delphine was part of her routine now, she had made sure to be part of it. She missed her so much; where was she now? Back at home probably, maybe thinking of her? Cosima sighed.

“Don’t be an idiot, she won’t be thinking about you for gods sakes.” Cosima turned around the market’s corner to enter the street of her place, recalling that she had bumped into the sorceress on the next street over. This town had so many memories of them together. She had better think about going back to the Magical Forest. At least nothing there would be a reminder of the things she had done with Delphine.  
She went up the wood stairs, listening to them creak under her weight; she was searching for the key to open her apartment when she noticed the blood trail leading right to her door.  
“What the hell?” Cosima took out her dagger and walked with caution towards her door. She saw that the lower portion of her door was blasted open with ice. Cosima pushed the door open hesitantly.  
“Who’s there?” Cosima’s voice trembled. But nonetheless she kept moving forward, looking for any threats.  
She followed the blood trail from her living room going into her bedroom, up to her bed.  
“Truffles?” The dog raised his head and barked, wagging his tail, his fur coated with blood. Cosima sheathed her knife and went to examine the dog.  
“Hey buddy? Are you okay?” She saw that the minion was hurt, but not enough to have this amount of blood over his tiny body.  
“Oh my gods, Delphine!”  
_____________  
She had no idea where she was, if it was day or night, or how much time she had been in captivity. Her wrists were shackled to the stone wall, skin raw from the torture. She had been unconscious for a long time now. The orcs woke her up to beat her, the smell of rust hanging metallic in the air, the blood stain she left on the cold bricks on the floor was an incredibly large amount, and she was on the verge of passing out again. They barely kept her alive. She only had one eye functioning because the other was so swollen that she couldn’t open it. The Angry Angel was merciless, ruthless. Helena loved to inflict pain; it was almost a pleasurable, a mere game for her to see how much the sorceress could resist.

“Hello friend.” Helena entered her cell, carrying a bucket filled with water. Delphine’s throat hurt much from screaming, she wanted to moisture her chapped lips just a bit.  
“You seem well, yes?” Helena squatted beside Delphine, and with the tip of her carved knife, lifted up her chin. Helena inspected her closely, an amused expression smeared across her face.  
“Pretty sorceress make orb for Tomas and I promise I will end you fast, yes?” Her voice was soft, like she really meant it. There was so much innocence in her words as if she really had no clue of the atrocities she committed.

“Vas te faire encule!” Delphine spat, the saliva falling on Helena’s boots. She tilted her head, not comprehending Delphine’s signs of fury.  
“I guess not. But I am not killing you, we have to play first. Besides, the faerie is a better choice.” Helena slid the knife down and placed it right on top of her heart.  
“Non, not her! I beg you, leave her alone!” Delphine croaked, tears streaming down her face. She was going to keep her safe; she was going to keep her word ‘til the end.  
“Let’s play.”   
Delphine only could pray to the gods that she passed out fast.  
_____________  
“Are you effing serious? After all she did? Hell no! Leave her with the orcs.” Sarah moved to the far corner and crossed her arms, not caring at all for Delphine.  
“She needs help, Sarah! If you don’t want to help, then I’ll go by myself!” Cosima’s hands moved furiously, her resolve already set. She was going to do whatever it took to rescue the sorceress, Sarah knew it.  
“Sarah, please! Stop acting like a child, Cosima needs your help.” Alison tried as always to be the voice of reason.  
“Alison, what are you saying? She let them trap us and Beth… and Beth died because of it.” Sarah was not going to budge, she needed to blame someone, and it was easier for her if it was Delphine.  
But Alison simply exploded, her usual composure gone. “Don’t you dare use Beth as an excuse, Sarah Manning! She died fighting like the warrior she was raised to be, and if you knew her as well as you think you do you know she would have helped.” Alison got teary, but she was right. Beth would have gone to hell if someone needed her there.

Sarah paced around the living room, walking from left to right; she stopped, and turned to face Cosima. “Fine, where do we go?”  
“This orb might help me track her, I did an initial scanning and she is pretty close, probably somewhere around Whiteriver.” Cosima was already unrolling a map over the table, scrawling and planning for their rescue mission. She grabbed the crystal over her hand, said some words and the crystal started to glow. She moved her hand trying to pinpoint a better location.  
“I think this is the closest we can get, dude.” Cosima circled a zone on the map.  
“All righ’, let’s do this.” Sarah was already on her way when she was stopped by one single command.

“Stop! And where do you think you’re going all by yourself, stupid elf?” Rachel chided. Sarah turned around to face her.  
“I thought you wanted me to help.” Sarah was impatient to take action, but it seemed Rachel had other plans.  
“But of course Sarah, but you are not going to go alone with Cosima.” Rachel was already preparing to depart as well.  
“Hell no!, What the-“  
“Shut up.” Rachel interjected.  
The princess went ahead of the search for the sorceress, the group escorted by a couple of palace guards. According to Cosima, the place where they held Delphine had to be a couple of hours away from the citadel, which meant that possibly it wasn’t a big group of orcs and they could manage them with their small number.

 

After hours of riding under the radiant sun, Cosima detected a vibration coming from the crystal. She took it out of her bag and the crystal began to glow.  
“Dude, this must mean she’s close.” Cosima took out from her bag the little minion. She petted him and whispered to him. “Hey Truffles, I need you to find her, can you show me where she is?” Cosima put the crystal on his collar, and Truffles barked and wiggled his tail. Cosima let Truffles onto the floor.  
“All right boy, let’s find her.” Cosima let Truffles run away to his destiny and she followed with the rest of the group, riding over the vast plains. Truffles kept running until he stopped near an old mill.  
“I think it’s here.” Cosima got off her horse and took out her staff. She kneeled beside the minion and said, “Stay here Truffles, I will get her.”  
“All right, we’re going in. The rest of you! Keep an eye on the princess,” Sarah instructed to the escorts. She got down from her horse and unsheathed her sword.

Sarah and Cosima walked with caution. The area was too quiet to be safe; not a single bird could be heard singing nor the chirping of any insects. Only the crush of the grass under their boots could be heard. Sarah and Cos entered the old house, examining it, looking for signs of trouble. They moved through the old kitchen and living room, seeing that it was pretty dusty, it was unlikely that there were people in this place. The boards under their feet creaked when they went downstairs to the basement. They kept searching for signs of intrusion, but nothing seemed out of place, except…  
“Do you feel that?” Sarah looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the cool breeze.  
“It’s like a gust of wind, but where from?” Cosima paced around the room looking for the source, Sarah did the same when the sound of one of the wood boards on the floor made a hollow sound. Sarah knocked on the boards to find the sound that matched the previous tap.  
“Here, help me out Cos! It’s like a secret trap door.” Both girls lifted the heavy door and they went down the next flight of stairs. And that’s when they smell of blood and putrefaction.  
“Oh Gods, please no.” Cosima paled, and Sarah put her hand over the faerie’s shoulder to give her strength. Whatever was up ahead had to be or dead or in a pretty bad condition. Cosima nodded, both moving in the direction of the wooden door at the end.

Sarah immediately took an offensive position and pushed the door slowly, she entered the room with raised sword to find-  
“Delphine!!!” Cosima ran to the corpse of the sorceress, lying against the hard rock wall completely bathed in blood. Her face was barely recognizable, her hands shackled to the wall, her dress ragged and golden curls a tangled mess. Sarah cut the shackles with her sword while Cosima held the woman in her arms and touched her neck to check for a pulse.  
“She’s alive! We have to get her out of here.” Cosima’s voice cracked, her eyes watery.  
Sarah helped Cosima move Delphine, the woman was completely unconscious. Both girls were practically dragging her body out of the secret door. Once they reached the surface they got out of the Mill, walked as fast as they could to meet with the rest of the team, except that the team was now dead.

Both girls stopped dead in their tracks. Sarah saw that a peculiar blonde girl was holding a knife against Rachel.  
“Take her away, Cosima. I’ll deal with this.” Sarah moved away from them and moved towards Rachel.  
“Let her go,” Sarah cautioned, holding the hilt of her sword tighter. But the girl in front of her merely smiled happily.  
“It is you, the Omega slayer! I have been waiting.” The girl approached Sarah, still holding Rachel in her grasp.  
“Sarah, yes? I meet my equal, makes me very happy.” The girl was seriously out of her mind, she was looking at her in a delusional way.  
“Who the fuck are you?” Sarah was not going to play games with this psycho.  
“Helena.” She was very close, and now they were face to face. Rachel’s demeanor was cold. She wouldn’t panic in a situation like this, not her, and she was made of ice.

“Leave her alone, you want to have fun, bitch? Let’s fight!” Sarah shrieked. This was enough to taunt Helena into attacking. She threw Rachel to one side and attacked. Sarah ducked the attack, rolling on the floor to take distance. Sarah noticed that Helena was a lefty, which allowed her the upper hand. Sarah was not used to this situation, which made it more difficult for her, but not impossible. With a twist of her body she slashed at Helena, but the orc was fast, and extremely powerful. Sarah took out her dagger to try to surprise Helena, but the psycho instead let her stabbed her in the hand, yet she didn’t flinch and she hit Sarah with a kick that sent her to the floor and stabbed her in her leg.  
Sarah muffled her scream. She stood up and kept attacking, but all attacks were easily deflected by Helena.  
“You are so much fun, Sarah!” Helena was enjoying the fight in a creepy way. Sarah’s leg was throbbing, but she couldn’t give up. She attacked, wielding her two weapons, moving fast and attacking relentlessly but the orc was simply too much. She countered all her attacks so easily.  
“Why?” Sarah gasped for breath. Her leg was hurt like hell and she wasn’t even close to doing any damage.  
“You are my seestra, we are connected, I can feel it!” She exclaimed ecstatically.  
“Just shut up, you psycho!” Sarah jumped at her hitting hard, when she saw the small crystal hanging from her neck and that is when she remembered what Cosima said about Delphine’s special crystals.  
“You’re using the crystal to boost your abilities!?” Sarah was seriously pissed.  
But Helena stood there, not grasping what she said. She tilted her head and with her right hand she held the crystal out. “This? I have not activated it. You bored already, seestra? I’ll show you true power, then.” 

The crystal started to glow, emitting a greenish color from its core. In the blink of an eye Helena was on her feet far away from Sarah, who failed see her coming when Helena attacked.  
Helena slashed at Sarah’s armor, shredding it into pieces, punching the elf who wasn’t prepared for the boost of power coming from the orc. Helena tore Sarah’s arm, the crack loud enough.  
Sarah was now prone on the dirty soil, nearly unconscious, trying to get up but she couldn’t. Helena turned her around with the tip of her foot and in an instant, she was on top of the elf, leaning in closer.  
“You can’t die yet Sarah! I never had so much fun in my life, seestra.”  
“I bet.” Sarah took ahold of her dagger and stabbed the orc in the eye. Helena growled in pain, but she did not scream, as if she was used to the pain.  
Rachel ran towards Sarah. She didn’t care that the orc was still dangerous; she wanted to be close to her elf to support her.  
“Go away Rachel, GO!” Sarah tried to shoo her away, but the princess was too stubborn.  
A portal opened midwall and a man came out of it. “What are you waiting for, my child, kill them and let’s go!”  
“I can’t, Tomas. We have a connection. I cannot kill her like this.” Helena turned to look at the elf, and added, “Heal, my seestra. When we meet again we will fight to the death, yes?”  
“Helena?” Tomas warned the orc, but Helena was already walking towards the portal. She looked so incredibly please, even though she was missing an eye. Tomas went after her and the portal closed.  
“You are an idiot Sarah, why did you engage? You had no chance against the Angry Angel.” Rachel tried to help Sarah sit up. Sarah blinked away the darkness that was claiming her. She needed to get on her horse and ride back to the castle, to make sure that Cosima made it with Delphine. She shook her head trying to keep awake when she realized what Rachel had just said.  
“The Angry Angel? Well, fuck.”


	14. An Uncertain Future

Cosima never left Delphine’s side once they arrived at the citadel hospital, even though weeks had passed already. Healers did what they could, but the physical abuse was too much, and the blood loss had left her on the verge of death. The wounds were badly infected and she was malnourished. They didn’t know if the sorceress was going to make it much longer.  
Cosima sat, smoking inside the hospital room. She couldn’t help it, she desperately needed to ease her mind while the prognosis was not positive. Cosima held Delphine’s bandaged hand stroking it softly, trying to give her as much support as she could, but Delphine was more gone than alive.  
“Delphine, I get it. That creep used you for his evil plans and you paid the price. But I need you to stay, I can’t accept you leaving me behind. Truffles needs his master. Please.” Cosima pleaded to the gods for her recovery, even though she never prayed. She was so worried for this girl. She never had never worried so much before, always so distant from people until she met Sarah, Alison, Beth and Rachel. She felt so happy among them, like she one of their own. They were family to her. And now, she had Delphine, because that’s how she made her feel, like someone she wanted to trust.

“Delphine, wake up. Wake up!” Cosima begged, laying her forehead over the side of the bed when Alison entered the room. She went to Cosima’s side to try to make her friend go and rest. Cosima hadn’t slept in days, and she had barely eaten.  
“Cosima, you need to sleep. You are in no condition to help Delphine; she needs you to be healthy and strong. I’ll stay in your place so whatever she needs, I’ll be right here.” Alison gave a comforting smile to encourage the faerie to accept the trade. Cosima nodded in defeat. The Dyadite gave her a gentle squeeze on her shoulder before letting her go.  
Cosima walked hunched, like she was half dead, and picked up her few belongings. “If anything changes…”  
“You will be the first to know.” Alison took a book from her bag, seated herself on the chair next to Delphine and waited, hopefully for the best.  
____________  
Sarah was being tended in a room near Delphine. She had numerous injuries, but what hurt the most was her failure as a warrior. The healers helped a lot with her leg and broken bones, but there was only one person who could make her stronger, faster and lethal.   
Mrs. S.  
Sarah had sent a message couple of days earlier to contact her old master; if she wanted to beat that psycho she knew she had to increase her strength and dexterity. That orc gave her a lot of trouble without the crystal already, but to beat her now with that damn thing was impossible. The last news she heard was that an army of 10,000 orcs were on their way to Dyad. They were going to attack and Rachel was in meetings with the town council trying to get ready for the inevitable war. By the intel she received, the Orcish army was going to arrive in two years if the conditions of the continent allowed them to move fast.  
Sarah was not comfortable being in bed with her arm in a cast, her leg immobilized to avoid further damage to her muscle tissue and alone. She missed her morning routine, her friends and her princess. Yet, in order to be fully healed, she had to wait at least a couple more weeks before returning to her normal routine. A knock on the door announced a visitor. Sarah waited for the door to open. And to her surprise, it was her teacher.

“Oi oi Mrs. S!” Sarah smiled, if someone could help her, it was Mrs. S. She was sure of it.  
“You look like crap, chicken.” Siobhan took a sit beside her pupil, taking a long look and assessing the situation before speaking.  
“The Angry Angel beat you? What have I taught you?” Shioban crossed her arms, waiting for a response from the young elf.  
“Avoid conflict if victory is not guaranteed, better to live another day,” Sarah recited the old teaching.  
“But you don’t listen, you act. That orc knows your ways of fighting; you are predictable to her, so this is going to be harder.” Siobhan pierced Sarah with her gaze. The wounded elf knew that her master was not happy with her performance lately and much less, her shameful behavior.  
“What can I do? The orcs are coming, I need to be stronger!” Sarah didn’t dare to look at her mentor. She was ashamed to be asking for help when she was supposed to be able to cope on her own.

“I can teach you to fight at the same level as her. Even with her magic tricks you can become powerful enough to beat her. But-“  
“I was sensing a but.” Sarah joked, nevertheless Mrs. S glared at her, not pleased.  
“BUT you will have to leave Rachel’s side; this will require your full attention and time.”  
Sarah did not reply immediately, she furrowed her brow, trying to grasp what her teacher meant. “I don’t understand.”  
“This training is not used anymore, the elders recognized the dangers of it, but I see that as your only option if you want to prevail. You will have to train for many years, love. Rachel will be left with your brother instead.”

“WHAT!? Fe? Can’t we make it shorter? I mean, the orcs are going to be here in two years, we don’t have time!” Sarah was desperate now, she did not want to leave Rachel alone and less with her brother taking her rightful place, she was not ready for this.  
“This is your only choice if you want to beat the orc’s champion. Rachel can take care of her kingdom and your brother is almost done with his training. Heal first, then we go.” Siobhan stood up, having already said what she came for.  
“Can we wait a bit? After All Hallow’s Eve celebration? Let me say goodbye to my friends, yeah?” Sarah knew this was necessary, with Helena around no one was going to be safe. She wanted to spend at least one last moment of peace with her sisters, Alison and Cosima, and of course, with that bitch that she loved so much.  
“Very well then. I’ll come for you at dawn, be ready.” Siobhan left the room, leaving Sarah alone, with her own thoughts. This was the only way.  
____________  
Alison spent several days watching over Delphine with Cosima; the sorceress was so pale and bruised she was barely recognizable. It was an incredibly sad sight to see, but her condition remained stable which was good; most everything was better than getting worse. Alison completely understood the faerie; she knew the fear of never seeing a loved one again, until it became reality. She missed Beth so much. Her laughter, her smile, her voice, she missed everything.

No one cared enough for her like Beth had. She protected her and always made sure that she was okay. Maybe she could move on with her life, but she doubted that she could love anyone else like she did Beth; her love was never going to disappear. And she knew Cosima was going through the same. If Delphine did not survive, Cosima was going to suffer and she was going to have to live with that heaviness in her heart forever. Alison did not want to see her friend like that; she already knew how painful it was, so she did her best to watch over the sorceress.

She was reading one of her plays when she heard groans, she lifted her sight from her book and saw that Delphine was moving restlessly. Alison stood up from her chair and approached the bedridden girl swiftly.  
“Delphine, it’s Alison. Try to relax; you’re at the hospital.” Alison put her hand over Delphine’s arm, trying to ease her.  
“It’s okay Delphine, you’re safe.” Alison tried to soothe her. The last thing she wanted for her to panic and hurt herself. Delphine’s eyes were lost, she seemed in be in immense pain.  
“Relax, I’m going to look for the medics, stay calm.” Alison walked out of the room and went to look for the doctor, she went to the nurses station to ask for help.  
“Excuse me, the patient of room 324-B21 is awake, someone please go,” Alison pleaded. The staff took their medicine cart and went to view Delphine. Once Alison ensured that the doctors and healers were with her she went to look for Cosima. She probably was desperate to speak with her, or at least she would want to make sure that she was awake with her own eyes.

Alison arrived at Cosima’s place in after 20 minutes, she knocked on her door and waited for the other girl to open and the barks of the weird puppy monster or whatever they called it could be heard. When Cosima opened the door, the smell of weed hit her. As soon as Cosima saw who it was, the creases on her forehead deepened. She was expecting bad news all the time now.  
“Alison, what happened?” Cosima gulped, and took a deep breath.  
“She’s awake.” As soon as Alison said her words her face changed completely. Cosima’s features stretched and shifted, forming a relieved smile.  
“Really? How is she? Is she okay?” Cosima assaulted her with questions, going back inside her apartment to extinguish her joint and change quickly. Alison followed her in.

“I don’t know, Cosima. The staff was with her when I came to tell you.” Alison watched in horror how her clothes fell on the floor over more clothes and books and stuff. This place needed a serious clean.  
“All right, I’m set. Let’s go, Alison.” Cosima was walking quickly, she went down her stairs faster than an arrow and the dog followed her. she was almost jogging to the hospital when she noticed that Alison was trailing after her.  
“Dude, hurry up!” Cosima tried to encourage Alison, but she preferred to go somewhere else.  
“You go Cosima, she probably wants to see you.” Alison smile and waved goodbye. Cosima practically ran after they parted ways.  
A light rain started to fall; the wind that blew her hair was cold on her skin. Alison made her way to the nearest carriage and asked to be transported to the Royal Cemetery, where the body of Elizabeth Childs lay.  
____________  
Rachel went to meeting after meeting. It was clear that war was imminent; she had to be with the council for hours, planning strategies, getting resources, making pacts and getting ready for evacuation if needed. But above other things, Rachel was not going to allow fear to dominate her people. She was going to keep living like nothing was bothering her. She had to show her people that if their princess stood strong, they could too.  
So Rachel decided to discuss the plans for the All Hallows Eve celebration that was just a few days away. The famous masquerade was celebrated every single year. It was the only day when everybody was the same, with no ranks, no social statuses; they only wore a mask, where they could become someone else, and no one would recognize you. It was a day where people could enjoy everything to the fullest without feeling shame or judgement.  
It was important to keep the good vibe around Dyad, panic was the worst that could happen, so it was better to keep their celebrations as usual.

“Make the castle beautiful, appealing; I want to give a sense of mystery and mysticism. Daniel, make sure that the food is exquisite and that all of our guests can enjoy great music.”  
“Just avoid the slow jams, Daniel” Sarah snarked and Rachel immediately glared at the elf.  
“As I was saying, music for the guests, and make sure that the blue carpet is ready.” Daniel bowed to the princess and left to do his chores. “I’m going to my chamber to rest.” Rachel headed to her bedroom, while Sarah followed her. Rachel knew that Sarah was off. She was trying too hard to be the usual hardass rebellious elf she liked to torture so much. She could feel something was on her mind but the question was what. She opened the double doors that led to her huge room; walked straight to her bed, Sarah shadowed her every step and waited at the bedroom door. Rachel did not waste time and removed her clothes, putting on a camisole and lying down on her bed. She couldn’t notice the uneasiness that usually followed this ritual. Sarah looked quite sad instead of her usual embarrassed flush.

Sarah walked to Rachel’s balcony, the rain began to fall harder, and the wind was so cold that it made her shiver. Sarah crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, trying to let the wind whisk away her insecurities and fear, to give her strength to do what she had to do, for the princess’s own good. She was going to leave very soon and she was scared to say farewell, fearing that Rachel simply was not going to care and that meant something to her. That stupid princess had somehow found a place in her heart.  
___________  
“I’m so sorry Cosima.” Delphine could barely speak. Her throat hurt like a bitch, and her body was in extreme pain. Cosima was seated at the side of her bed. The healers and medical staff assessed her and saw that everything was functioning properly, but it was going to take time to heal her body. They used as much magic as they could to heal her, but her body was damaged by an orcish blade with magical properties, which prevented her full recovery.  
“That hurt a lot, you know? I should have stayed away but I couldn’t Delphine, I just can’t get over you!” Cosima conceded. Truffles was curled on her lap while she petted him. “I got so scared when we found you, and I’d never felt that horror before. Delphine, I can’t trust you. My logic dictates that, however, my heart wants to forgive. I just need you to get better, but, um, I am really glad you woke up. I was scared shitless.” Cosima smiled a bit, Delphine extended her hand and laid it over Cosima’s, and the faerie allowed her to do it.  
Delphine knew that she had to start from scratch with her, that she needed to show her that what happened between them was real, that it meant something. She needed to heal quickly to start working on earning her trust again. It was going to take time, but she refused to give the faerie up. After the terrible days of torture and pain, she knew that Cosima was her light.  
__________  
Alison walked among the silent gardens, umbrella in hand. As per usual, she bought some flowers. She always brought flowers to Beth when she could. The rain soaked her dress, the wind was not helping either so the umbrella only kept her hair dry. She kept going through the stone floor, turning and twisting through the path until she got to the resting place of the brave elf, she opened the metallic doors to find a complete mess.  
“What the hell?” Alison dropped the flowers to the ground, her mouth was wide open in horror. She looked around, searching for clues or to see if there was somebody around who could tell her what was going on.  
“Where are you Beth?” Alison got closer, the area where Beth was resting was disturbed, soil everywhere and a huge hole on the center (empty?) where there was supposed to be a body shrouded in linen.  
“Jesus Murphy!”


	15. All Hallows Eve

Sarah searched for clues about the disappearance of her friend Beth’s corpse after Alison reported her body missing. According to Cosima, there were traces of magic left in the cemetery, so they assumed that her body was stolen to practice magic on, but of course they weren’t going to tell Alison that Beth’s body was probably going to be used for some forbidden ritual. After all, elves were magical creatures, and if her body was used for something like that, they were going to use her body organs and gods knew what else. That was information that Alison did not need to know. Sarah was pissed about the situation, but there was nothing else they could do.

Several days after, Delphine was released from the hospital. Cosima took care of the blonde and her minion. Sarah took the sorceress’s statement, and Delphine explained the use of the crystal that the psycho orc Helena had in her power. Sarah knew now more than ever that she needed to leave. She wasn’t going to be able to win. Those magical crystals were extremely effective and even though Delphine offered her allegiance and swore to serve Princess Rachel in making more crystals, Sarah understood that first she needed to be stronger than before, or there was no point in using the crystal to be in the same fighting conditions as her enemy.

She only had today to say goodbye to her friends. Today was the last day Sarah Manning, faithful protector of her Royal Highness Princess Rachel Duncan, was going to fulfill her duty. So, she tried her best to enjoy the day. Today was October 31st, the day that Dyad Kingdom celebrated All Hallows Eve, the night where the entire kingdom attended the royal masquerade. People wore fancy dresses, and ate fancy food in the palace and of course, the day Rachel announced her betrothal with that disgusting guy, Lord Olivier Duval.  
“Dude, are you paying attention?” Cosima was seated beside Delphine, tilting her head and furrowing her eyebrows when the elf seemed lost in her own thoughts.

“Ah, yeah, sure. I understand Cos, trust me. I’ll take care of it.” Sarah walked to the window and took a deep breath. “Um, Cos, can we talk in private?” Sarah knew she had to tell someone and she trusted the faerie, even though she did not approve of her relationship with Delphine.   
“You know you can speak with Delphine here, Sarah.” Cosima assured.  
“Non, it’s okay, chérie.” Delphine kissed Cosima’s hand in a loving gesture. Sarah saw the two of them being affectionate and felt a surge of jealousy. Why Rachel couldn’t look at her the way those two idiots looked at each other?  
“This is personal. I don’t want to trouble Delphine with my shitty life, yeah?” Sarah walked out of the bedroom and went to the small kitchen to wait for Cosima, who was kissing Delphine before joining the elf.

“Alright, what is it Sarah?” Cosima served two cups of tea and handed one to the elf. Sarah took a sip before speaking again.  
“I am leaving tomorrow.” Sarah waited for Cosima’s reaction. She had no idea how she was going to react, the faerie was processing the new information in silence.  
“Leaving? To where?” Cosima drank her tea, thoughtful.  
“I’m leaving with Mrs. S to train.”  
“Oh that’s cool, very well, I will work in my magic skills as well, and Delphine and I will be ready to…” Cosima was blabbering about her plan to make her magic stronger with Delphine when she noticed Sarah’s expression. “Oh, you’re not coming back, are you?”  
Sarah shook her head. Cosima nudged her glasses onto the bridge of her nose again and drank more tea.  
“But how long will you go? I mean, are you going to make it back in time for the battle?” Cosima tried to look for a better outcome than what Sarah was implying.  
“I don’t know if I’ll be back as far as I can tell, Cos. The kind of training I’m undertaking seems dangerous enough, but it’s the only way I will be strong enough to fight Helena.” Sarah drank the whole cup of tea. She placed the cup onto the countertop a bit too hard in frustration.  
“Okay dude, just chill. It can’t be that bad, you will be back in no time.” Cosima tried to cheer her friend up, but Sarah was now gloomy.  
“I wish, this might take years Cos, there’s no way I’m coming back anytime soon. I need to ask you for a favor.” Sarah looked Cosima straight in the eye, she needed to tell this face to face to make sure that Cosima was going to be truthful.  
“Yeah, sure, whatever you need man.” Cosima looked back at Sarah, completely serious.  
“Take care of that asshole of a princess for me. My brother will take my place, he knows, but he is young and unexperienced and please, don’t tell anyone of this, swear it Cos, no one must know.” Sarah took both hands of the faerie in hers, she was asking her to keep it between them.  
“Why? Rachel should know, you are her shield Sarah-“  
“NO! She mustn’t know, you know her, she will try to stop me and if she does then I-“  
“You won’t go.” Cosima finished her sentence. Sarah nodded in agreement.  
“Okay dude, you got it, but tomorrow after the party that robot bitch will go nuts!” Cosima joked trying to lighten the mood. Sarah chuckled a bit.  
“Yeah, she’ll lose her shit. Be there Cos, just be my eyes. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can.” Sarah stood up to return to the castle, but before she left, Cosima hugged her closely. Sarah embraced her tightly as well. “You take care, we will be waiting, you know that, Sarah.” Sarah let her embrace her for a bit more to gather the strength she needed to go. Tonight was going to be a huge pain in the ass. It was her last night being the toy of that woman, yet, why she didn’t feel relieved by going away for years from her? Because you know better Sarah, you just know.

 

The night was beautiful: clear skies, the stars were so bright and the moon looked so big, it was the perfect night to celebrate All Hallows Eve. The fireworks tainted the sky with colors red, blue, orange; the people laughing and dancing on the streets was an incredible view. Inside the palace people were dressed their best ensemble, and the main hall was filled with people dancing rhythmically with the music and enjoying the party. Everybody wore masks. Some used masks covering their whole face and some others just covered their eyes. Still, it was difficult to know who was who, except for Sarah, whose pointed ears gave her away.

Cosima and Delphine were dancing on the main floor. The mask helped hide the horrible bruises that still marred the sorceress’s face. Cosima convinced her that with the mask, no one would notice anything, and she agreed to come. Alison was drinking at the bar, still worried about Beth’s remains. She wanted to recover her body, but now it was probably in pieces. No one had the heart to tell her to forget about it, so they just left her to herself. Sarah was as far away from the bar as she could. She did not want to taste one single drop of alcohol after the hard recovery she went through months ago, so she drank punch instead.

A trumpet fanfare announced the entrance of Princess Rachel Duncan, the band stopped playing music and people stared at the young heir walking down the spiral staircase on the arm of Lord Olivier Duval. Sarah knew what was coming, and there was no way in hell she was going to witness her betrothal to that guy. So she left, going outside of the palace to meet with her brother who was probably fooling around with his friends near the garden’s fountain.  
___________  
Rachel did what was expected of her. She was the leader of this country and if they required her to be married to some idiot man, she was fine with that, and she did not care. The only thing that mattered to Rachel was having her elf with her. She could endure everything while she remained by her side. This business transaction was nothing than a mere formality to please the council and give security to the people of Dyad.  
“Good evening Dyadites! Welcome to the annual celebration of All Hallows Eve! I open once again the doors of my home to you, my people. Tonight we are all the same, these masks conceal who we are and before I wear mine, I would like to announce that I am giving my hand in marriage to Lord Duval. After three full moons we will be married.”  
The guests clapped and cheered, and everybody was happy except for the bride. She did not smile once, and her face showed no emotion. The band resumed their music and Rachel and Lord Duval took to center stage to dance.  
“I don’t get it! Rachel should be beaming with happiness.” Alison shook her head in disbelief and took another sip of wine. “You know? If I was getting married to Beth. I would be so happy…” Alison started to sob.  
“No, no Alison! Don’t be sad dude!” Cosima tried to offer comfort to her tipsy friend. “That’s the thing man, she is not marrying the one she wants, she can’t.” Cosima drank wine as well and interlaced her fingers with Delphine, who was by her side.  
“Why not? She is the Princess, chérie.” Delphine was a bit lost with Dyad royal customs.  
“Yeah, but you know, people expect her to marry some important guy, not an elf for fuck’s sake.” Cosima had no idea what she had just said, but Alison’s eyes were wide and her jaw almost hit the floor in shock.  
“You said WHAT?! An elf, an elf like my Beth?” Alison squinted, her hand flying to her face, thinking hard when it hit her.  
“NO, you have to be kidding me! Sarah!?”  
“Dude, I’m supposed to be the blind one here.” Cosima laughed at her own joke and added, “It was so obvious, Alison! But whatever, that’s not going anywhere.” Cosima sighed. She really wanted the best for her almost sister Sarah.  
“No point in crying over spilt milk. Let’s dance, mon amour.” Delphine pulled the faerie into her arms and led her to the dance floor. Alison was still baffled, but she understood Rachel, elves could be the doom of any man or woman, she knew it by experience.  
____________  
“Promise me Fee you will not take your eyes off her.” Sarah sat with her brother in the royal garden, enjoying the sound of music from afar.  
“I will Sarah, trust me, I will fulfill my duties for the honor of our name.”  
Sarah smiled at her brother and ruffled his hair.  
“Oi! Don’t do that, this hairstyle took some time.” Sarah laughed and hugged her brother.  
“Just be patient with her, yeah? She will be pissed most of the time and angry. She will make your life miserable, but she means no harm.” Felix nodded.  
“Well I have to go back, the princess awaits.” She kissed her brother on his forehead and went back inside the castle.

The party was livelier, couples dancing everywhere, but the young elf was not interested in any of that night was her last day with her and she was dancing with that guy. She took a glass of punch and hid behind the curtains of the grand hall, better to be here safe and away from the pain. She drank her punch for a while, just listening the music and people talking about how great it was for the kingdom this marriage, which was going to boost the people’s confidence in their future queen and how suitable for her was that Lord and the children they would have and-  
“What are you doing here elf?”  
Sarah turned around slowly, she knew that voice anywhere in the world.  
“Rachel.”  
“I thought you would be at the party, Sarah.” She said with her usual arrogance.  
“Yeah, right you know my ears are pretty obvious so yeah, why not.” Sarah was done with her shit, last night here so she was going to stop being so polite.  
“You have some nerve elf, but I’ll forgive you. In the masquerade we are all the same, so tell me Sarah, what would you do now that we are equals?” Rachel smirked, she knew she was tempting the elf, what she did not expect was the response.  
SLAP  
Rachel was surprised; she did not see that coming. She rubbed the slapped cheek that was now a bit red. “I did not expect that, elf. Any other thing you would like to express?” Her expression unreadable, so damn cold. Sarah was going to let everything out. This was the night she could be honest with her. Sarah stared at the young princess, drinking her features, ingraining the human in her memory. Her perfect dress, her rosy lips, the hazel of her eyes, not a single hair out of place; she was always in control, she had everything in order. She knew exactly what she wanted to do.  
“Yeah, there are a couple of things.” Sarah crushed her lips over the princess, she kissed her hard and wild, her desperation for her so intense, she had no idea how she could hold herself all this time. Rachel responded eagerly, as passionate and intense as hers. Sarah knew that she wanted to see her demon bitch lose that control, to be for once in charge, so she ripped her clothes apart and kissed her neck, sucking and biting, until the skin turned red, Rachel’s moans where evidence enough that she was enjoying it. Sarah pushed her against the wall, pressing harder against her body, trying to merge with her, Rachel’s nails digged on her back, pulling her long hair. Sarah between heavy breaths said “Not here.”

The two girls were surrounded by people, yet with the masks, the people dancing, the booze and the music, no one noticed when they sneak through the halls. Sarah held Rachel’s hand, leading her upstairs to their room. Once on the upper floor, Sarah knew she had to look for a comfortable place where they could be alone, think quick damn it!, she thought, not to the royal chambers, no. Everybody entered that damn room, but not hers, no one messed with her, so the answer was simple.  
Sarah opened her door, led Rachel inside and closed the door securely. This was it, just the two of them. Sarah did not waste time; she took her between her arms and kissed her, deeply, her tongue dancing inside her mouth, her hands ravaging the delicate material over her skin. They stumbled on the way to her bedroom, it was awkward and exciting, the bumped on the bed and Sarah fell on top of Rachel, she hold her wait to not crush the princess and stopped one second to look at her flushed face. She traced her jaw, her neck and her hand stopped on top of her cleavage.  
She could see her own golden eyes reflected on Rachel’s hazels, and right there she knew for sure. She was in love. She did not hesitate one more second, Sarah tore apart the fancy dress, the fabric falling to pieces under her assault, she was going to have the future queen at her mercy. She was going to show her who was in charge now. Sarah trailed kisses over her collarbone and descended right in between the valley of her breasts, she cupped one in her hand and with her mouth she sucked the other. Rachel arched her back to provide more access for the elf, who was nipping and biting her nipple, her hand massaging the other, the moans coming from the princess were deep and sexy, almost animalistic. Sarah kept going, her tongue circling her breast, the moisture feeling so cool over Rachel’s skin, the bites so hot. She wanted more. Sarah kept going south, down, down until she was between her legs.

Sarah spread the human’s legs wider and she licked her lips in anticipation. She looked at Rachel, and smiled in complete satisfaction, the princess was hers, she had her where she wanted her: needy and without control. Sarah licked her cunt so softly, the cries of pleasure from her demon bitch arousing. She licked softly at first, she wanted to enjoy her like candy, Rachel grabbed the sheets of the bed so hard, anchoring from the attack of the girl on her wet core, slamming her tongue over her clit, she was getting desperate, she wanted her inside. But Sarah was taking her time, leaving marks all over her tights with her rough hands, and destroying her center with her mouth.  
“For the Gods, Sarah, what are you waiting for?” Rachel fixed her gaze over the young warrior; she saw the smug smile on her face.  
“You bitch, you won’t dare!” Rachel was shocked, she was surprised this evening, her elf was being bold tonight.  
“How bad do you want it?” Sarah teased with her fingers her pubic bone, she knew where she wanted her but she was going to make her work for it.  
“Listen to me elf! You will do as I say!” Rachel as usual, fought to the very end.  
“Really?” Sarah moved her hand farther away. The eyes of Rachel were now pleading. She rolled her eyes.  
“Fine, please Sarah, I beg you, do it.” Rachel purred, she was defeated and she didn’t care one bit. Because that was all Sarah needed to put her fingers inside her wet channel and pump like crazy. The rhythm was ferocious, in and out, in and out. Rachel was holding for dear life from the mattress, her respiration turning more irregular, drops of sweat all over her body, Sarah could feel the tension of her inner muscles; she knew she was so damn close, her arm was cramping but she wasn’t stopping, not now. She kept pushing harder and harder until Rachel screamed her name.  
Rachel was limp over the bed, so tired and satisfied, that damn elf knew what she was doing, her body ached in all the right places, her skin reddish and purplish, the marks of the possession of Sarah Manning all over her body. But she was good at retribution, Rachel Duncan was getting payback, she turned around and propped over her elbow, to her side was Sarah looking at her with those beautiful golden eyes of hers. She kissed her, but not like wild beast on heat, instead Rachel kissed the elf soft, delicate, careful. Sarah kissed her taken aback by the way she touched her, almost reverently.

Rachel undressed Sarah carefully, making sure to not make her feel ashamed of her scarred body. She felt so proud of her elf, she wanted to show her how much she cared. She traced soft kisses over her neck and chest, tracing with her delicate hands the scars on her shoulder, moving her mouth over the cuts of swords and animal claws, Sarah was so afraid of her reaction, but the way she touched her was not of disgust, but curious, delighted with each cut, and bite she had. Rachel kept exploring her body, kissing her everywhere, her hard muscles tensing under her scrutiny and then relaxing when her tongue soothe her nervousness. Sarah let Rachel touch her, she gave herself to her, body and soul. Once Rachel was satisfied she sent her to oblivion, the orgasms reaping both apart.

Rachel fell asleep between Sarah’s arms, yet the elf couldn’t closed her eyes, she didn’t dare, afraid to miss the last memory of her princess, because when she wakes up tomorrow, she will hate her forever. Sarah caressed her until dawn came; she memorized each curve, each freckle, each sensitive spot the princess had. She would cherish her forever, like the most precious treasure in the world.  
Sarah kissed Rachel on her temple and said her last words to her “Hiril vuin, boe i ´waen. An ngell nin, goheno nin.” [My Lady, I must go. Please, forgive me.]  
Sarah gt off the bed and dressed up as silently as she could, once she was ready she tk her few belongings. She covered Rachel with the blanket and kissed her once more on the lips. “Amin mela lle” [I love you]  
It is for her safety, she reminded herself, so she picked up her bag, and walked away.


	16. The Sting of Betrayal

The chirping birdsong announced the arrival of morning, but Rachel had no intention of getting up. Her daily routine, which included seeing her elf running around the gardens before dawn, then getting ready for business was not needed today. She breathed in deeply. Yes, it is her smell, she thought.  
What happened last night was not one of her fantasies, but it had actually happened. She had slept with her elf and she enjoyed it very much. Too much, actually. Now, she understood the pleasures of the flesh. She knew what it felt to be attracted to someone so much that the need to be inside her replaced all other needs. It was like needing air or food to survive; she needed Sarah Manning to live.

She moved softly around the bed, her bed; she extended her arm to reach for her, her insides melting already for the things she wanted to do with her, especially first thing in the morning, but there was nothing to touch. Rachel opened her eyes and turned her sight to the side of the bed where Sarah had slept, which was now an empty space. Rachel sat up on the bed, her brow furrowed. Where she could be at this time? She looked around. It was the first time she spent more than a few minutes in her bedroom; the room was tidy, a small room compared to hers, and furnished with just the basics. Sarah never asked for anything, not once, and that was something that bothered her now. She wanted to be the one who provided for her elf yet it turned out quite the opposite. Sarah gave her life to protect her, she was the one who needed her.

Rachel got off the bed, she walked in all her naked glory to the balcony to see if she spotted her running elf, and if she did, she was going to make her pay for preferring go to run than make love to her first thing in the morning. However, she did not see her.  
She walked to pick up her things when she saw the state of her dress. It was completely torn to pieces. Rachel smiled in satisfaction. Sarah had taken her wildly and savagely, and the marks left on her body were evidence enough. The redness around her thighs and neck, the wetness that remained between her legs and the burn she felt on her back were clear marks of the elf’s possession. Of course, she wanted to do the same, but Sarah had already too many scars because of her. Instead, she gave her the most tender kisses and the most sweet caresses, which surprised her.  
She took the blankets and pulled them around her body, walking out of Sarah’s room. Once in the hall, she entered her chambers to take a bath and put on decent clothing.

A while later she was fixing her hair, applying makeup and getting ready to send Lord Olivier Duval to hell. A knock on the door startled her, and she turned around to see who was requesting her so early and after a huge party like last night. 70% of the staff was probably hungover still. If it’s that stupid elf she will regret disappearing on me like that.  
“Yes, come in.”  
But to her surprise, it was not Sarah who entered her room, but her brother.  
“Good morning your highness. I am here to fulfill my duty.” The boy with the skinny build said.  
Rachel tilted her head. There was some mistake here, by the way she looked at the elf, she was not getting what was going on.  
“Look Felix, no need to be here, your sister is alive and well.” Rachel stood up and walked to the boy. “She is probably running right now, so go back home Felix.”  
“I am sorry my lady, but I am now your protector as stated by the treaty among our kingdoms.”  
Rachel shook her head. “No, you’re wrong, where is she? Look, if she panicked after what happened last night I can talk to her. Take me to her!” The desperation in her voice was quite evident, and there was no denying that she cared for the elf.  
Felix gulped before speaking again. “She is gone, my lady.”  
“NO! That is preposterous! She can’t go.” Rachel stormed out of her room; she was going to find that idiot no matter where she had to go. She went into her room and when she opened Sarah’s drawers she found nothing, her closet was empty as well. Suddenly she felt an emptiness in the pit of her stomach, her throat was hurting and her eyes were moistening with tears.  
“No, this is all wrong, she must be around somewhere.” Her voice on the verge of cracking. Rachel kept looking for her elf in the library, the kitchen, the main hall, even in the gardens, but she was nowhere to be found. If someone knew where she was, it was Cosima.

 

Rachel went in her carriage in full speed to Cosima’s place. Maybe she was there hiding. Felix escorted her in complete silence, making his presence almost invisible to the desperate princess. Minutes later she arrived, going up the stairs and knocking, waiting for the faerie to open. Rachel resisted the urge to knock again. She had to keep her composure; after all, she was royalty. Royals never were desperate. She heard shuffling in the apartment, which meant that Cosima was on her way to the door.  
“Hey Rachel, what brings you here so early?” Cosima muffled a yawn and let the princess enter her place. Only when she saw Felix she understood the reason of her presence. “Oh.” She said.  
“Where is she?” Rachel asked, eyes and mouth hard and flat.  
“Um, well, I don’t know.” Cosima shrugged.  
“Don’t lie to me, faerie. Where. Is. She?” Rachel’s voice was a low growl, threatening.  
“She left to train with Mrs. S, and she’s not coming back anytime soon, Rachel.” Cosima had no clue what else to say to appease her anger. Whatever explanation she could come up with would never be enough for the princess.  
“She did it to save us, you know that. No one can beat that psycho; you saw what she did to Delphine. Sarah will come back stronger.” Cosima waited for the princess’s response, but she knew that no matter how many excuses she gave to her, Sarah had left her. Period.  
Rachel was stoic, like a statue, no reaction, no anger or frustration, she simply shut down.  
“Very well then, we don’t need her. I have a wedding to prepare. If you’ll excuse me.” And she left with a broken heart.  
_____________  
Sarah traveled to the eastern regions of Leda, beyond Westbridge and Fairspell, where the now extinct dragons were born, where the fire of the Freyhollow volcano burnt.  
“Do we really had to come all the way up to this place?” Sarah wandered around. The place felt different to the other regions of Leda, there must be some kind of magic here.  
“This place is very demanding; to survive here you will have to go beyond your own abilities. You will have to endure the trial of the dragon. According to our stories, this is where the dragon riders came to earn the respect of the beasts. At the end of their training, if the dragon accepted the rider, they would be blessed with the runes of the dragon.”  
“That means that if I complete this, the runes will appear in my body, like tattoos, yeah?” Sarah wondered.  
“Yes, like these.” Mrs S rolled her sleeve up and showed the runes on her left arm. Sarah’s expression was one of bewilderment.  
“You came here to train? That’s incredible. But wait! Those runes, I have seen them before.” Sarah was in awe.  
“On Helena, yes. I trained her.” Mrs. S sighed. The nostalgia brought back memories that should remain buried.  
“Wha’?” Sarah now was shocked, she did not expected this plot twist.  
“I met her wandering around, a tiny little orcish girl. I helped her to survive; I could not let her die in this place, that’s why she has runes. That’s why I know you need to train much harder than her. 

You’re going to spend many years trying to master the secrets of the dragon rider. The magic in this place will detect the moment you are worthy, therefore branding the runes onto your skin. The more you connect with this place, the more runes you will earn.”  
“I understand.” Sarah knew that this was the only option; she would devote her life to become someone worthy to be called protector. Well, ex-protector actually, because by leaving Rachel she failed the treaty. It was up to her brother to fulfill her duty now.

Rachel. Just the sound of her name made her feel butterflies in her stomach. What a wonderful night they had together. The feel of her skin, her lips on her mouth, the way her hands roamed around her body. She was so tender, it was quite surprising. She expected their usual roughness, angry interactions, but last night was the complete opposite. After she had her way with the evil princess, who was damn amazing, she expected retribution in the form of angry sex, but Rachel was so careful with her, she worshipped her body, even those terrible scars she had, it was the sweetest moment of her life. Now it was all gone, Rachel was probably mad, hating her right at this moment.  
She missed her so much already; she had no idea how deep that stupid bitch got into her heart, until now. It didn’t matter how much they insulted each other or humiliated one another, she was stuck inside her mind and soul.

“Oi! Are you listening?” Mrs. S brought her back to real life.  
“Sorry, I was distracted.” Sarah was going to have a hard time focusing now that for the first time she was spending her days away from her highness.  
“I need you 100% here, chicken, or else you won’t be able to protect your family and friends.”  
Sarah nodded. Protector or not, she swore she was not going to let Rachel cry again, and she meant it.  
_________  
The weeks passed, Christmas was around the corner but Rachel Duncan I, future queen of Dyad remained mostly in her room. After her meetings with the council she simply went back to her bedroom; actually, she spent more time in Sarah’s room. She did not want to talk, she barely ate, and she felt completely empty without her elf.  
She lay on Sarah’s bed, trying to keep the memories alive, but the betrayal hurt far too much. Why did she leave me?, she asked herself over and over again. Why she didn’t choose her? Why did she leave me? Cosima explained for the millionth time that she was training for the upcoming war, which was quickly becoming a real threat. 

The Orcish army was going to be in Dyad soil in a couple of years. Her army was getting ready as well, the preparations were going smoothly, but the thing that bugged her mind was why Sarah could not stay by her side. She did not care if she died, she wanted to spend her last days with her, making her life more miserable, because she loved to mess with her, and then she would fuck her rough one night and he next she would make sweet love to her. But no, she left, and her life was now boring as could be.  
She was supposed to be preparing her marriage, but she left all the responsibility to Alison. She had no enthusiasm for that. Next month she would be married to Lord Duval, her people would have something to celebrate and that was it. Back to a life without Sarah Manning was a life she did not want. That elf was stuck in her heart, so her only way out was to harden, become the robot bitch that Sarah despised so much. She could do that.  
She closed Sarah’s room, forbidding the staff to enter that room again. She was going to bury the memory of Sarah Manning; she was going to be fine without her. She was going to let her go.  
________  
It was very dark, her body still ached, she had no idea what happened but in the last months someone took care of her, the last thing that she remembered was Sarah screaming. She looked at her hands, her hair looked the same, yet her skin was pale. Besides that, everything seemed ok. Still, she knew something was off. She sat up on the bed with trouble, but this time she felt much stronger; it was like her limbs had forgotten how to move when she tried the first couple of times, but now it was better. She tried to stand up several times, until she managed to hold her own weight. She walked slowly to the bath to wash her face; the dirt was sticking on her skin, her throat hurt like a bitch, and the huge scar on her abdomen reminded her of her fatal decision.  
She looked around but the small cottage where she was was empty, for now. She walked slowly to the room next door, there she washed her face, she looked in the mirror and that’s when she saw.  
The brown depth of her eyes was gone. What now remained was crimson red.   
Undead.  
“It’s good to see you awake.” A mysterious man greeted her.  
“Why? WHY!?” Frustration and anger radiating from her in waves. She knew that she was a goner when The Omega impaled her, but then again, here she was, thanks to ancient forbidden magic.  
“You will serve us well. After this battle between orcs and humans, the Forsaken will rise again.”  
“And what makes you think I will do as you say? Undead or not, I have free will.” She looked hard at the man.  
“Yes, but it is the only way you will save her.” The man showed her a portrait. She knew that girl from head to toe, she knew her very well; from the smell of her perfume, her obsession with pink, to her usual stressful persona, to the soft of her lips, that was her Ali.  
“What do you need me to do?”


	17. The day I shut my heart

The days passed, and the clock never stopped ticking. The days passed, evolving into months. The day finally arrived, a very festive day in Dyad. Their princess was getting married to Lord Duval. The townspeople celebrated with enthusiasm, as everybody wanted to attend the big day. Everybody was excited, except, of course, the bride.

Rachel woke up late, she didn’t want to get up today. It was hard already to be up and ready, because every day was another day without her elf, but she showed strength in front of her servants, even in front of her friends. She wasn’t going to let them knew how empty and hurt she was.  
Felix was doing his job as best as he could. Every time they left the castle he protected her with the same intensity as her elf. Yet, the way he looked at her was not okay. He was lacking the fire, the defiance in his eyes; those gold-brown eyes that lusted for her were gone.  
She opened her eyes, today was just another day for her. Yes, she was getting married but she did not care, this was just a mere business transaction. A knocked on the door told Rachel that her maids were already here to bath her and dress her. She stood up slowly and opened the door to let them in. The maids quickly took her to the special bath they prepared; they used oils and flowers to relax her. Once she was done with the bath, the maids took her to the dressing room, they helped her get into a beautiful white gown. And a crown of flowers over the veil that covered her face.

“You look stunning, Rachel.” Alison entered her bedroom and admired at her friend.  
“Thank you Alison. You are gorgeous as well.” Rachel complimented the pink dress her friend was wearing.  
“You are a very beautiful bride, you just need to smile.” Alison sighed and hugged her friend. There was not much anyone could do. This was something that the people needed, a moment of happiness before the war began. In a year or so, the Orcish army was going to be right in Dyad territory.  
“It’s okay Alison, don’t worry about me, everything is going to be fine.” Rachel tried to smile to ease Alison, but she was terrible faking happiness, she was who she was.  
“All right, everything is ready, your groom is waiting for you. I’ll be downstairs.” Alison gave a kiss on the cheek to her friend before leaving her alone.  
Rachel took a deep breath; she closed her eyes and released the air out of her lungs slowly. She opened her eyes, ready to fulfill her duty.  
____________  
Sarah couldn’t sleep at all, if the marks on the wall were right, today was the day. She made sure to mark each day she spent here to not lose sight of the time she was in this forbidden place. The training was brutal but she could endure anything, except the pain of losing that icicle princess to that asshole of Lord Duval.  
If she could just erase this feeling, she might concentrate today. She went to run first trying to wake up her body. After she sweated enough she went to do some physical exercises before going to fight the spirits of the dragons inside the cave near the volcano.  
Fighting these weird entities was the most gruesome training, they were ruthless, and her body was a complete mess, except for the fact that they never threw the final blow. Mrs. S always watched her student, provided advice and kept observing her development. After months trying to beat this spirits of the old dragons she had not advance one bit. She got her arse kicked over and over again.  
“All right, love. Try harder.” Mrs. S said when Sarah ended on the floor for the 3rd time already.  
“I am trying Siobhan!” Sarah got up and attacked again, the entity moved swiftly, blocking all her attempts, the more she tried to beat the thing, the more anxious she got over the wedding. She spaced one second and her body was slammed against the hard rocky walls of the cave. Sarah got up, she was a bit wobbly from the impact, she cleaned the blood from her mouth to continue, but Mrs. S grabbed her before she continued to fight.  
“Wha’?” Sarah asked a bit rougher than intended.  
“Your head is not here, you are too slow. What is it?” Mrs. S looked her in the eyes.  
“Nothing, just let me go, yeah?” Sarah was not having this conversation.  
“Sarah, you are completely distracted, if you want to fight, fine, go and get yourself killed.” Mrs. S released her grip and Sarah went straight ahead for the entity, her rage and pain feeding her attacks. Over and over she got beat up.

“That’s enough!” Mrs. S pulled the young warrior out of the cave and sat her outside where she could tend her wounds and talk to her.  
“What is it? Speak and don’t lie to me anymore, it is clear your anger. Why?”  
Sarah stood quite for a while, thinking what to say, but she had no other option that let out the pain.  
“I need to go back, master. I need to stop that wedding.” Sarah almost pleaded.  
“I know love, but you can’t.” Mrs. S said in her most condescending voice.  
“You knew? That is ridiculous.” Sarah joked.  
“I know you since you were a baby, it is clear that the princess means a lot, however, you understand why you are here.” Sarah nodded, she was very clear on her mission, all of this was to protect her, to keep them safe.  
“Forget about the wedding, she needs you for the upcoming war. Get her out of your head, at least for now, love” Mrs. S gave Sarah a cloth to clean her wounds and left her. She needed space right now and her master always provided what she needed.  
“Bloody hell Rachel, you have ruined me. I am a fucking masochist.” She looked into the sky and pray the gods to give her resilience, patience and strength to keep moving on. But she already knew that demon bitch was going to torment her for the rest of her life.  
____________  
“I declare you husband and wife.” The priest announced. The people rejoiced, there princess was now a married woman, their future queen had now at her side the future king, and together people hoped that they were going to rule just like the previous royal couple did. With honor and justice.  
Olivier and Rachel walked the aisle and people cheered, the wedding party was going to begin. The music resonated on the grand hall of the castle, the royal couple dance on the floor. At the bar was Alison, who was a bit teary for the grand event, drinking wine; at her side Cosima, Delphine and Truffles.

“It was a beautiful ceremony ma chérie, humans like to have this big celebrations all the time?” Delphine asked Alison.  
“I guess, how do you celebrate weddings?” Alison looked at Cosima with extreme curiosity.  
“Um, faeries do a more intimate celebration, we wait the full moon to do our sacred ritual of soul bonding or some shit like that.” Cosima explained to Alison and Delphine the soul bonding ritual in extreme detail, so detailed that Alison cheeks turned red.  
“That is very interesting Cosima, warlocks use a different approach. In our ceremonies we carve our flesh with magic, the name of our beloved in our backs to wear proudly, unless you separate, then it turns into shame.” Delphine said.  
“Jesus Murphy, you people are insane!” Alison snorted.  
“Do you want me to tell you the elven way?” Cosima raised her eyebrows; she knew Alison would like to know about Beth’s ways. Alison nodded with interest.  
“The elven are actually pretty boring, they exchange vows to bind their spirit and hearts, and then they use a sapling giving by the priest that they should plant in their new home. And since they live a lot in normal circumstances, to keep the flame of passion they disappear for long periods which now that I think about it, it’s kind of what Sarah is doing.” Cosima started to laugh.  
“That is not funny Cosima, Sarah is working really hard to fight that crazy psycho.” Alison protested. Delphine got a bit tense when Alison mentioned the awfully strong and demented psychopath Angry Angel. Cosima noticed, she took Delphine’s hands and kissed them.  
“You are going to be safe, Delphine, I promise, no one is going to hurt you again.” Delphine cradled the tiny woman in her arms.  
“Merci mon amour, but I have to prepare as well, we need to train harder if we want to make it alive in the next couple of years.” Delphine reminded them that it was not over; it was actually a countdown to the battle with the Orcs.

Rachel and her husband said their goodbyes and left to their honeymoon. Rachel thought that the best place to go was her cabin; she wasn’t in the mood to travel, especially when there were a lot of things to do in the kingdom, however it was needed to give peace of mind to the council and her people.  
Once they arrived, Felix helped with their luggage; he put everything where Rachel requested. Once Felix finished Rachel ordered him to leave her alone with her husband. Felix obeyed of course, no point staying in the same place when probably they wanted time to consummate the marriage. Felix bowed and left.  
“Please Olivier seat.” Rachel took her seat at the other side of the table, right in front of her now husband.  
“I do believe our terms were pretty clear, I am right Olivier?” Rachel batted her eyelashes in that dangerous way of hers.  
“Of course, princess.” Olivier affirmed. Rachel lips curved a bit, just enough to make Olivier gulp.  
“Al right husband, let’s conclude our bargain.”  
The moans didn’t let Felix sleep, even though he was in a tent outside the cabin, the sounds of ecstasy echoed through the window. The screams of pain and pleasure mixed with anger of the princess could be heard through the silent night in the countryside. This couldn’t be more awkward, but there was nothing to be done, he had to stay close just in case a situation arose.  
___________  
Sarah couldn’t sleep either, she was tired, bruised and her heart was in pain. She missed the bitch so much and the simple through of that disgusting Lord touching her make her feel sick to her stomach. These feelings were killing her, she just wanted to quit but Mrs. S was right, if she didn’t become as strong as Helena, no point in having this jealousy fits; in the end all of them were going to be dead. Yet, that didn’t stop her hand going right where she wanted Rachel’s. Sarah closed her eyes, and she pictured Rachel in a beautiful white gown, how the gold ornaments in her dress would match her hazel eyes.

Sarah let a moan escape; she knew she was going to be breathless if she saw her. And the gods knew that if she was around she would tear that dress apart in no time just to be inside of her. Oh her hands, how soft they were, not like hers, they were so hot over her scarred body, her tongue and lips did marvelous things. “Shit” Her breaths were heavier now, her hand increasing the rhythm. If only she could touch her again, how she ended being so attached to demon princess was the big question, this lust was what drove her mad, and knowing that the fucking Lord Duval was banging her woman it made her blood boil.  
“Fuck.” Sarah clenched her teeth’s, she was so damn close, almost there, just a bit more. She pumped hard, bucking her hips, the need for release overcoming her aching body, because she knew that she belonged to that stupid woman, and she would follow her to the grave. And then, she came, she bit hard her lips to try to muffled her cry, the least she wanted now was Mrs. S finding her in this compromising situation.  
She opened her eyes, she was now completely spent, the memories of Rachel Duncan would be haunting her for sure, the more time passed the more she was going to forget the real feeling of her, yet, this was her only hope, not to beat Helena, but to keep her memories alive and keep her sanity while doing so.  
“I’ll be back robot bitch, I swear.”  
_________  
Two years have passed and no sign of her stupid elf. The war was at its peak; her army was having a lot of trouble dealing with 10,000 orcs plus Helena. Yet the Angry Angel was not interested, she wanted to play with Sarah, so she remained in the back, just eating food, killing people once in a while and waiting the return of her sestra, according to her.

Cosima took the lead of the army, just like she promised Sarah, after commander Arthur Bell died at the hands of the Angry Angel months ago. Delphine and Truffles stood at her side, Alison surprised all of them when she showed up in the battlefield carrying Beth Childs bow and quiver. She said that Beth taught her how to shoot, so she kept practicing after she passed away.  
Rachel could not lead the army like she wanted, she had to wait one more year to become queen and only then she could take the reins of her kingdom, that was falling slowly into the hands of the Orcs.

The Dyad kingdom was at risk of losing the war if they didn’t improve their strategies, for now all they could do was hold the damn orcs at bay, which they were doing just fine, for now.  
Rachel was desperate to fight, but Felix was doing a pretty good job keeping her safe in her castle. Felix was a true elf warrior, showing the same commitment as her long gone sister. Rachel did not bond with him for obvious reasons, there was only one protector for her, even after all this time.  
The war intensified, so many casualties, but none of them give up, for more negotiations that Rachel tried to set with Tomas, the orc was determined to see her on her knees begging for mercy. And that was not going to ever happen; Rachel was never going to give up.  
Only time would tell who was going to survive in the end.


	18. The Return of the Elf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For alison-would-make-it-look-pink.tumblr.com for being an awesome fan. This is for you.

“Your majesty, I don’t think we should risk Mistmill. We already lost Swynston to the Orcs.” Angela Deangelis said. After Rachel Duncan was crowned two years ago Angela took the position of councilor to Her Majesty.  
“Look dude, we’ve done an awesome job repelling the attacks, but it’s just a matter of time until we lose Mistmill.” Cosima discussed her strategy with Angela.  
The past years were difficult for all of them. The orcs had not given up yet and the Dyadites fought back, but their resources were running out. Even with the help of Cosima, Delphine, and Alison, things were getting to a point of despair.  
“One moment! No one said we were giving up quite yet, Angela. We need to regroup our troops to plan a much organized attack.” Alison added.  
“Yeah, yeah, exactly; it’s just a matter of distracting that crazy psycho long enough, though.” Cosima knew that the main problem was Helena. No one wanted to face her, so she killed as she pleased.  
Rachel sighed. Things were completely messed up.   
“Listen, we need to defend Clearwind as well. Mistmill is almost empty, but we cannot retreat anymore. We’re sending the wrong signals to the enemy.” Rachel pondered.  
“I believe that we must come to-“ Rachel was interrupted when the double doors to the throne room slammed open unexpectedly.

The only sound echoing in the room was now the sound of the heavy boots the mysterious person with the black hoodie wore while walking on the hall, moving in direction of the throne. No one spoke, they just watched as the stranger approached everybody was on edge ready to jump just in case this individual tried something. Once the black hooded figure reached the front steps to the queen, only then, removed the hood.  
Alison dropped her mouth to the floor, Cosima’s eyes were wide open, and she smiled, her huge grin when she saw who it was, but her majesty‘s expression was one of total coldness.  
“Your majesty, I am here to serve you.” She bowed and waited for the queen’s response.  
“Sarah Manning? How dare you! You left 5 years ago and now you come back after all this time!? Elf, we don’t need you. I don’t need you.” Rachel spat, her voice edged with poison.  
Sarah straightened herself again, her gold-brown eyes feasting on the woman she had in front of her. “As you wish, my queen.” She turned around and left.

“Are you effing serious!?” Cosima protested. “She looks fucking badass and you sent her away? Rachel, er, I mean, your majesty, didn’t you feel it? She is changed; there is an aura…Damn.” Cosima bowed and left to chase after her friend.  
“I can’t believe you, 5 years and that’s the first thing you say? I thought you would be more mature Rachel.” Alison also went right behind Cosima.  
“We are done for today, leave.” Rachel ordered. The rest of the servants and her councilor left, the room emptied and she was alone. Now she could breathe in and out, in and out, slowly, taking deep breaths through her nose and out through her mouth. When her heart rate dropped back to normal levels, she couldn’t help but smile.

 

Her elf was back, and oh gods, she looked gorgeous. Her brown hair was messy as usual, one side braided, her gold-brown eyes were glowing, and her body, oh sweet goddess, she was now so toned. Her biceps were big, and her legs so strong. Cosima was right. She looked different, and there was something else with her, a confidence and aura of raw power.  
However, she was not going to go after her. She was now a queen, the ruler of this land, and there was no way in hell she was going to beg for that bitch to return, not after what she did to her pride, to her heart.The stupid elf that left her after the incredible sex they had. The elf that betrayed her, the one who left and never looked back. No, she wasn’t doing that, she had pride, she was not letting her back into her life.  
___________  
“Dude, you really came back.” Cosima hugged Sarah tight, and she smiled back at her friend.  
“You are here after all Sarah, you ungrateful bitch!” Sarah hugged Alison before she continued insulting her. “Bloody hell Alison, what happened to you?”  
“Oh yeah, you have to see her, she is hella awesome, such an incredible archer , she fires those arrows like a pro.” Cosima complemented her other friend.  
“Wha’? You do? Damn, I need to catch up with you two!” Sarah was amused.  
“Oi? And where is Delphine? Is she okay?” Sarah wondered when she noticed that the blonde was missing.  
“Oh she is perfectly fine dude, she is home taking care of our girl.” Cosima smiled proudly.  
“Woah! You serious? You two… bloody hell you perv, you couldn’t keep your hands off of the Black Mountaineer.” Sarah congratulated her.  
“Yeah, I completely lost it, she makes me so happy, and our girl is cute like her mom. Her name is Elise, Elise Niehaus. You have to come to my place and meet her.” Cosima’s eyes glowed in happiness, Sarah couldn’t be gladder for her friend.  
“Yes, she is a very curious girl, just like this dork.” Alison added.

“I would love to catch up with you but, you know I have to talk with that bitch.” Sarah got a bit anxious, this was going to be the most horrible moment of her life if she didn’t convinced Rachel to take her back, what was she going to do.  
“She is pissed, and with reason you idiot!” Alison kept insulting Sarah, she was also hurt to be left out of the loop.  
“I know Alison, I’m sorry, but it was the best I could do.” Sarah apologized to Alison, she really was sorry for leaving without saying goodbye. Alison hugged Sarah and left with Cosima, but right before they got out Sarah said “Thank you Cos, you did well.” The faerie nodded and went back home to her woman and child.  
Sarah took a deep breath before going into the castle’s main hall. She knew Rachel was really mad, the question was what was the main reason? Because she left without letting her know of her plans, or maybe because she really cared for her. She prayed for the last one every single day she spent with Mrs. S.

 

Sarah walked to the throne room, but there was no Rachel to be found. Sarah roamed among the corridors of the castle, most of the servants recognized her, nodding to her or smiling. She had a reputation; it was good that she maintained it after all this years. Walking near the library she found Daniel.  
“Daniel, hi.” Sarah greeted.  
“The protector! What a surprise, you are back after all. Now we might survive this war.” Daniel commented.  
“Do you know where can I find the queen?” Sarah asked.  
“She must be resting in her chambers.” Daniel simply said.  
“Uhm, is she with her husband?” That was exactly what Sarah did not want to know, but she preferred to be warned than finding her woman doing things with another man. Because five years could have passed but that bitch was hers.  
“I don’t know.” Daniel said.  
“Alright, thanks.”

Sarah went straight to her old bedroom, after running the long flight of stairs to her floor she found herself in the hall that lead to Rachel’s chambers. Her old room was right beside her door. She went to her door to open it, but it was locked. Meaning that no one had used her room. She smiled at the thought of Rachel being protective of her room.  
She moved to the next door, but before entering she inhaled slowly, trying to calm down her nerves. Five years fighting weird ancient spirits but nothing prepared her to face that woman. Once she gathered her courage, she peeked in the room.  
“Rachel?” Sarah called, looking around. But no one answered back. She was going to close the door when she heard... a moan?  
She stood there, frozen in place. It was not possible; it was not…there it was again, the sound of her muffled voice. Walk away Sarah, do it, you are going to regret it. GO! She tried to convince herself but her legs were already moving in the direction of her room. Her door was left ajar, and she pushed it carefully, trying not to make a sound. And once she peeked through the door all her hope was gone. Someone was under her covers, she couldn’t see who, but her face, her expression of pure bliss, it made her boil on the insides. The door creaked a bit when she pushed it accidentally.  
Rachel opened her eyes and when she saw her staring, she smirked. Sarah moved as far away as she could; this was not what she wanted to see. All this years all her thoughts were about the damn princess now queen Rachel, however reality was that she moved on. Rachel had a husband and she was enjoying the marital life to the max. There was no place for her in this castle. So she took her things and went to Cosima’s place.  
___________  
“She is gone, get out now Olivier!” Rachel commanded. She moved away from her bed and went to sit on a chair. Olivier got out of under the covers and sat on the bed.  
“How long do you plan to do this Rachel? I mean, this is getting ridiculous.” Olivier complained.  
“You will do as I say, Olivier, be thankful that I have not killed you already. You are too bothersome. I already told you that we need to keep the charade. Make people believe we are engaging in sexual activities when in reality it’s all a hoax since our wedding.” Rachel started to read papers over her desk and began to sign them with a quill.   
“It’s just that sooner or later the people will want a heir.” Olivier risked it, talking about such a sensitive topic.  
“I’m not worried about that yet, for now enjoy your royal status. As long as you keep serving me you will be king. However, the moment you try something stupid, I will make sure that someone gets rid of you.” She said without any inflection in her voice. Like she had for for breakfast death and blood.  
“No need go that far, trust me, I am very clear on our terms your majesty. I must go now, I’ll be in my room if you need me.” Olivier stood up and left.

Once she was left alone, she dared to sigh. Her elf was there, just like she expected, that idiot was so predictable. She was now going to teach her not to mess with her; she was going to make her suffer just like she did all this time. There was not a single night when she did not think of her, on her rough hands over her sensitive skin, her chapped lips and her scarred skin. She even tried to please herself, yet the feeling was not even close to the real thing. Instead she kept playing games, she revealed her true colors to Olivier Duval, and now he was her lackey, he was not going to even try to touch her after his failed first attempt years ago, not when she made sure to show him who was in charge. She could be very evil when she wanted to. She had nothing to lose, she had no feelings, she was empty.

She had a war to win, yet she cared more about making pay the elven warrior than the psycho Helena of the orcs. It was all about priorities. Her elf now believed she was having lots of fun with her husband, which was good, she saw her pained expression, Sarah Manning was now a pretty pissed elf. That brought a smile to her face. She loved so much to hurt her, it was like her sole enjoyment was based on the suffering of that woman. Why it had to be so complicated between the two of them? Why they couldn’t be like Cosima and Delphine who oozed their love everywhere they were together, it was ridiculous.  
Rachel knew that there was only one person in the whole world who made her feel alive, the same person she loved to hurt so much. Sarah effing Manning, her elf.  
I think it’s time to come to terms, elf.  
__________  
Sarah knew this was a terrible idea but she was so sad. Her chest felt like she had been stabbed multiple times, and she desperately needed an escape for at least for one day. She went to the nearest bar and ordered ale after ale. She drank, and drank, and drank. Drowning her sorrows with the alcoholic beverage. Once she was wasted enough she stood up from her stool and walked out of the bar.  
She was walking on the lone road, the silence deafening and the stars brightening her path, the question was where was she going to go? She had nowhere to return. That bitch shut her down, and she was heartbroken, she had to swallow her pride and look for another place to stay, maybe Cos wouldn’t mind to have her crashing at her place. Though, it was a bad idea to appear in this state. She kept walking aimlessly when she thought she heard a familiar voice.  
“Man cerig Alassё?”  
“Tha’s none of your business. Do I know you?” Sarah slurred, she turned around to see whoever was speaking to her.  
“Shit, I’m fucking drunk if I’m seeing ghosts now!” Sarah started to laugh, not trusting what her eyes saw.  
“Pull your shit together dipshit, they need you.”  
“Oh Ghost Beth, go away, she doesn’t need me. She has that disgusting guy to do her. I am an idiot for believing she loved me, that she was going to wait for me.” Sarah kept walking, ignoring the illusion.  
“You can be a pain in the ass sometimes.” She pulled her friend and locked eyes with her. “You are an elven warrior! Do what you were trained to do and stop acting like a child, asshole.” Sarah gulped and blinked trying to focus her eyes, something was terribly wrong with Ghost Beth.  
“Why your eyes are red, Beth? What kind of ghost are you?” Sarah was a bit shocked, but then she remembered that Beth’s body was robbed, and this was a serious hallucination. She must be mixing those events badly.  
“I have to go now. There are darker times ahead of you Sarah. Helena is just the beginning.” And in the blink of an eye, Beth Childs was gone.

Sarah shook her head, trying to sober up a bit. This apparition had left her confused, but she kept walking down the road to the town center when she saw one of the townspeople.  
“Hey I have seen you before, right?” She said to the bearded man.  
“Yes, I heard you were on a special training, protector.” The man replied.  
“Yeah, and I’m back and bored, I think you can help me a bit you know.” She smiled, tilting her head.  
“Really? I hope I can be of help then.” The man smiled back at her.  
“Oh yeah, yes you can. You are Guy? Cal? Frank? Oh, who cares!” She jumped the mysterious man.

 

The next morning her head was about to blow up, everything was spinning, so she sat up slowly. She found herself under a roof, in a bed that was not hers. Shit. She stood up and dressed up as fast as she could. This was not the plans she had in mind when she returned, but oh well. She got the hell out of where she was and resumed her path to Cosima’s place. It took her awhile to get to the faerie home, the heat was intense and she had a hangover. Not the best way to present herself to the Niehaus household.  
Last night was extremely crazy, specially the part when Ghost Beth talked with her. She was never touching a drop of alcohol again. This was worse than years ago, this time she hallucinated right away.

She went up the flight of stairs and knocked on the door. She heard some barks, which meant that the sorceress minion was there.  
“Oui?” A female voice with a sexy accent answered the knock.  
“It’s Sarah.” She announced.  
The door opened, and Delphine was there, smiling. Her blonde hair was much longer now, the curls more beautiful. No wonder Cosima was crazy for the woman.  
“Cosima told me of your return. We are very happy to have you here, please come in.” The taller woman moved to the side to let her in. Their minion jumped excitedly to greet her as well.  
“Hey Sarah.” Cosima came out of her bedroom and greeted the elf with a hug. They sat on the kitchen table to talk comfortably.  
“Truffles, please give Sarah a rest, would you? Would you like tea, Sarah?” At the sound of the blonde’s voice, Truffles moved away from her boots.  
“No thanks.”  
“Maman allez-vous me lire?” A tiny girl walked into the living room, her way of moving her hands around was definitely Cosima’s, yet her face was completely Delphine’s.  
“Bloody hell! Is that your daughter?” Sarah was in awe, that beautiful girl brightened the face of both women. Something in Sarah stirred, the longing of a family of her own, she never thought about it, she probably assumed she was going to be dead by now, but she was still kicking and screaming. And then she thought about a life with a kid and her stupid bitch. That was the most ridiculous thing ever, but she couldn’t stop picturing it in her mind. A tiny kid walking all regal like demon queen and being brave and strong like her. She smiled and immediately erased the mental image, that was pretty stupid on her part.

“Dude you okay?” Cosima carried the girl in her arms and kissed her cheek.  
“Yeah, it’s nothing. Your daughter is beautiful.” Sarah conceded.  
“Like her maman. She grinned proudly. She lowered the girl down and with a pat on her back told her “Go with maman Elise, mommy here needs to talk with auntie Sarah.” The girl smiled and ran off to her mother’s embrace.  
“You look like shit dude, and you drank, I can smell the booze from miles away.” Cosima fixed her glasses on her nose. “I can assume things were bad with Queen Rachel.”  
“Yeah, pretty much. But the alcohol was foolish, I won’t do it again. Now fill me up with the war plans.”

Cosima explained in detail how the war with the orcs befell during her absence, the amount of casualties and the current situation of Dyad. The Angry Angel presence was what gave the advantage to the Orcs, so she knew if she defeated the psycho, the morale of the Orcs was going to diminish fast.  
“I understand. Tomorrow I’ll face Helena, I will end this once and for all.” Sarah was going to give it her all tomorrow. Helena was the main enemy of the Dyadite army; she was killing randomly when she was in the mood, and when she was in the mood, lot of people died. Sarah was going to stop this.  
“Tomorrow it all ends.” Sarah was sure of it.


	19. In Cold Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go. Thank you for sticking with this story. Fantasy is not a genre that appeals many people, so if you made it this far you have my deepest gratitude.

The morning finally came; the sun radiant through her window. Sarah spent the night in the living room of Cosima’s place. She had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t go back home because she was no longer a protector and Rachel wanted nothing with her, so returning to the castle was a bad idea.  
Her only mission was to defeat Helena now, finish this damn war and after; who knew? Maybe leave Dyad. She had no place beside the queen. And for that sole reason she felt miserable. Since the day she was born, her life was made to serve the royals of Dyad, and now she had no further mission in life now that Rachel rejected her.  
Bloody queen!  
She still had no clue how she ended being so obsessed with that bitch. Rachel was too posh for her taste; she was obnoxious and much too arrogant and self-absorbed. She was the worst person ever, she treated her like shit and she hated her with a passion, yet, there was something about her that made her insides melt. She had no clue how she ended developing feelings for her. Sarah hated having these feelings. She did not deserve them, but here she was, suffering for an ungrateful bitch queen.

Sarah opened her eyes to find staring back at her beautiful chestnut eyes.  
“Hey Elise, how are you?” Sarah plopped down on the couch she had been using as a bed to greet the little girl. The girl kept looking at her with curiosity. Just like Cos, she thought.  
“Oh, you’re looking at these?” Sarah pointed with her finger her left shoulder, where the runes of the dragons were visible now that she wasn’t wearing her leather jacket. The intricate pattern started on her left deltoid and ended on her back, right on top of her left scapula. Symbols of an old language, the language of the dragon riders, according to Mrs. S. The black ink seemed to glow sometimes, it was really weird. The only thing she remembered was that a light was carving her skin, and she screamed in agony until she fell unconscious to the floor. When she woke up she had the pattern on her shoulder.  
Elise nodded.  
“All righ’, you can touch it if you want, it’s just like your mom’s tats.” Sarah smiled at the little girl.  
Elise touched her shoulder and traced the patterns, but she suddenly removed her hand, as if she had been burned.  
“You are very powerful Auntie Sarah, I can feel it.” The girl was marveled.

“Hey you two, good morning.” Cosima smiled, Elise ran quickly to embrace her mom.  
“Mom, Auntie Sarah’s runes are hella cool!” The girl was speaking so fast, Sarah got lost in the conversation, just like her faerie mom.  
“Bloody hell Cos, she is a mini you.” Sarah joked.  
“Oui, c’est vrai.” Delphine got out her the bedroom as well to join the happy family.  
“Ok you two, stop that!” Cosima’s cheeks were red.

The bells of the church began to ring. The countenance of the fairie changed in an instant.  
“Wha’ is it Cos?” Sarah stood, her body tensing already.  
“It’s time. The army is preparing, and the bells are announcing the departure of the army. We have to go dude.” Cosima held Elise tight and kissed her cheek. Delphine embraced the smaller woman and kissed her deeply.  
“You take care ma chérie, we will be waiting for you.” Delphine kissed her woman one more time before letting her go.  
Cosima went to change and once she was ready she picked her staff. Sarah put on her jacket, put her sword and dagger in her scabbards. The two of them departed to join Alison in the castle.  
____________  
Rachel was already wearing her armor, she was going to fight like the leader she was. Of course her stupid husband was going to be there too, which was a great opportunity to get rid of him.  
“You know what to do?” Rachel sheathed her sword.  
“Yes your grace, I will take care of your problem.” The soldier bowed and left.  
Rachel smiled, extremely satisfied. Her plan was already in motion.  
She went to the main hall to meet with her friends Alison and Cosima and Sarah? The elf was here.  
“What are you doing here, traitor? Felix, could you please get rid of this pest?” Rachel curved her lips enough for her to see it. Felix looked at her sister like he had no clue what to do, he was afraid to disobey the queen, but he couldn’t fight his sister. Instead, Sarah took the decision for him and beat the crap out of him. The she went for Rachel, she took out her dagger and again, she had it at Rachel’s neck.  
“Oh gods, here we go again.” Alison said in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air and sighing.  
Sarah was holding Rachel against the wall, holding her dagger close to her jugular. Sarah’s face inches from the queen.  
“No one lays hands on me!” Rachel whispered.  
“Except me.” Sarah replied. Her eyes were turning gold, Rachel could see the lust in them, and how she loved those golden eyes. It was so funny that the only thing that gave the stupid elf away was the color of her eyes. When she was so horny for her, those beautiful eyes became gold and bright, the way she liked them. Yet, Sarah knew that as well, so she pressed the dagger hard on her neck to make sure the demon queen knew she was in charge of her desires not the other way around.  
“Odulen an edraith anlen,” Sarah assured.  
“HA, to save me? Don’t be ridiculous. Nin gwerianneg!” Rachel snapped.  
“I did not betray you. You see this?” Sarah showed her runes to Rachel. “I went to train to protect you. This thing hurt a lot, yet it does not compare to the pain you make me feel, bitch. Let me fight.” Sarah demanded.  
Rachel stood pensive for a while, she took a look around and saw that Alison and Cosima were staying put, they were not going to lift a finger to aid her. They were going to let them fix their shit together.  
“Fine. Do what you want, elf.” Sarah released her grip on the queen. And right when Sarah lowered her defenses Rachel slap the elf. The sound echoing in the main hall.  
“Next time you lift a finger against your queen and I promise you will come…” She made a paused for dramatic purposes “to heel.” Rachel bumped Sarah on the shoulder when she passed her. Sarah stood there trying to pull her shit together.  
“To come?” Sarah turned around, half smiling. Rachel looked back and smirked, she resumed her path to the door.

“Shit.” Sarah was baffled.  
“You two need to stop that shit, it’s getting lame already.” Cosima smiled.  
“Yeah.” Sarah walked to where her brother was and hugged him hard.  
“I missed you Fe, thanks for taking care of her. Now go home, yeah? I’ll deal with this.” She sheathed her dagger and went to the battlefield. It was time to set things straight.  
“Just don’t do anything stupid Sarah.” Alison warned.  
“Yeah, don’t rush it man. Take it easy.” Cosima added.  
But if Sarah didn’t do anything reckless or stupid she wouldn’t be her.  
____________  
The stomps of the Orcs could be heard within distance. The four women were standing in front of the army, 5000 men awaiting orders. Olivier stood beside his wife, but he looked pretty scared to death.  
“STEADY!” Cosima ordered. The anxiousness of the men seeping through their pores awaiting the enemy. Orcs approached slowly but securely, their war cries intimidating. Helena was leading them beside Tomas.  
“Archers get ready!” Alison commanded. Immediately the first line of fire took position. All men tensing their bows and getting ready to let the arrows fly.  
Sarah pressed the hilt of her sword until her knuckles were white. She saw Helena, who was wearing an eye patch. That made her smile. That psycho was going down today. Sarah started to walk, she unsheathed her sword.  
“Sarah, gods damn it, stay back!” Rachel commanded, but Sarah had her eyes fixed on the orc. When Helena saw her she smiled, like it was the best day of her life. Helena started to move towards Sarah as well. Sarah then started to jog, Helena matched her pace, and then she went full speed towards the orc.  
“Jesus Murphy! FIRE!” Alison gave the order. Hundreds of arrows flied towards the orcs who rampaged towards the Dyadites.  
“Helena!” Sarah screamed and when she was at striking distance Sarah swing her blade. Helena deflected the hit with her weapon.  
Sarah kept swinging her blade, yet Helena was fast. “Not bad at all for having one eye.” She teased.  
“Yes, a gift from you, sestra. I missed you. We can be together now.” Helena slashed Sarah’s jacket, shredding it into pieces. Sarah removed it to keep fighting and then Helena saw the runes.  
“You have them, yes? It is our destiny sestra, we are connected.” Helena was happy now.  
“You are seriously out of your mind.” Sarah now wielded her sword and dagger in both hands, attacking swiftly. Helena was caught a bit by surprise, as Sarah was now faster and her hits were much stronger.  
“Not playing, are you?” Helena asked.  
“Hell no!” Sarah and Helena kept exchanging blows, one after the other, Sarah twirled around and kicked Helena on the ribs. Helena slashed part of her abdomen, the thin line of blood drenching her vest. Sarah ran and slid under her legs, catching her by surprise, she cut her back. Helena screamed, Sarah’s blade dripping blood on the floor.  
“Wha’? Not so funny anymore?” Sarah taunted.  
“No more games.” Helena took the crystal she carried on her neck and activated it. The green glow of the crystal infusing her with energy and power.

Helena moved fast, but this time Sarah could see her so clear, it was like she moved in slow motion. Her runes were glowing as well; it was like she had her own crystal tattooed on her arm. She deflected her attacks easily. Sarah rolled on the floor to escape her attacks, when she turned around she surprised Helena with a spinning kick. Sarah slashed and tore her arm.  
“AARGH!” Helena’s scream of agony seemed to fuel her the most. Helena kept moving forward. Sarah had barely escaped one of her desperate attacks which left her bleeding from her left arm.  
The Angry Angel was paler than ever from the intense loss of blood. Sarah went with all she got left and moved her sword straight to her head, Helena block the attack, yet Sarah used that to stabbed her with her dagger. Helena had her eyes wide open. She walked backwards slowly and uncoordinated. Helena removed the bloody dagger and she fell on her knees to the floor. Sarah was sweating and bleeding as well but she still was on her feet.  
“Sestra, you can’t kill me! We are family, yes?” Helena croaked.  
“I already have a family.” And she slashed her sword, beheading the Orc.  
_____________  
Rachel fought bravely and fiercely. She learned a lot from Art and Felix, and she had to admit that at least the little elf was useful for something. She moved through the battlefield like a lioness, cutting and killing like it was just another usual day for her. Killing did not feel ordinary; she didn’t feel a thing when she sliced pieces of orcs. She kept pushing forward until she saw her mark, Tomas.  
She went straight for him, Tomas never had a chance, and without Helena by his side he was defenseless.  
“Please, I surrender” Tomas pleaded, while he bled.  
“And why should I forgive you?” Rachel pointed the tip of her sword to his throat.  
“Your majesty, please.” Tomas was trying to gain her sympathy, the problem was that she had nothing inside, she didn’t feel a thing. She was going to stab him when her elf stopped her.  
“Don’t do it, he already surrendered, Rachel.” Sarah stood in front of the man. “This is not honorable Rachel. You fight when he is in equal conditions.”  
Rachel sighed. There was no point arguing when her elf was bathed in the blood of the Angry Angel. “Very well then. To the dungeons and then he will be judged by his crimes.” Rachel called for Cosima.  
“Woah, you’re looking like shit dude.” Cosima smiled when she saw her friend in one piece.  
“Yeah, you too.” Sarah grinned.  
“Please escort this man to the dungeons.” Rachel started to walk back to her horse.  
When the Orcs and Dyadites noticed that Tomas and Helena were defeated, they scattered fast. Rachel kept walking and when she and her goon made eye contact, she nodded.   
The soldier moved over the bodies on the field, trying to find the one man he was tasked to watch. He found Olivier Duval hiding behind a rock.  
“What are those screams? Did we win?” Olivier asked.  
However the man simply stabbed him, sliding a dagger under his armor. He was so close that it looked like they were hugging.  
“The queen sends her deepest gratitude.” The soldier removed the knife while Olivier’s body fell limp on the floor.

“Alison, you okay?” Cosima went to check on Alison who was on sitting on the floor. Taking a moment to compose herself.  
“Yes, I’m just a bit in shock. I almost die Cosima. I was on the floor, without weapons. An orc was on top of me about to stab me and then out of nowhere a black arrow came flying and tore through his chest.” Alison showed the corpse to Cosima.  
“Lucky you, then.” Cosima didn’t pay much attention to her usual exaggerations; it was probably the adrenaline fading off from her.  
“Cosima, our men don’t use black arrows! Someone else was here.” Alison took another glance around the area, where only corpses laid, and injured soldiers going back to Dyad.  
“It’s nothing Alison; maybe someone changed arrows for this battle. Let’s go dude.” Cosima extended her hand to help lift Alison up and go back home.  
____________  
The next morning Queen Rachel said goodbye to her husband, mentioning how sad she felt, that his bravery was going to live forever. She cremated him and sent his ashes back to his family.  
Sarah watched Rachel closely. The way she was so cold towards losing a man whom she was supposed to care was peculiar. It had nothing to do when she saw her cry 18 years ago, during the burial of her parents, the day she had sworn to be her protector forever. Little Rachel had been so sad and filled with pain, but that was the last time she seen her show any emotion at all of that sort. Now, she was just a cold blooded bitch.  
After the funeral Sarah and Cosima went to the dungeons to interrogate Tomas, but to their surprise, they found the man hanging from the ceiling.  
“You have got to be kidding me.” Sarah went inside the cell to get the man down. When she checked for his pulse, there was nothing to be found.  
“Seriously, how did this happen?” Cosima looked around the cell to try to find a way in which this man could have accomplished this.  
But Sarah knew, she had no need to do a research to know that Rachel did it. She knew that she was not going to keep still until she did what she wanted. And she wanted Tomas dead.  
What happened to that little girl? Sarah wondered. She was determined to find out.


	20. The Forsaken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are after a month and a few days later. I have no words to thank you all dear readers for making this experience as awesome as it was. This is a work of love to all of you and for this beautiful ship I love so much, Ray Ray, my queen this is for you. No really, but in all seriousness I have no words of appreciation enough to thank for your support and words of encouragement, thank you from the bottom of my heart and I hope you like this final chapter.
> 
> If you dig this fan fic please recommend it to other people, that is the best way to thank me for this piece of awesome story. My askbox is always open for you 24/7 I wait your feedback as always and if things go smoothly expect Stories of Leda: The Forsaken later this year, if you have any interest at all.
> 
> Thank you so much,  
> Tana
> 
> Find me at tanagarielrunsonduncan.tumblr.com

Sarah was seriously pissed. What the hell had happened to Rachel to turn her into a ruthless woman? She had neither compassion nor mercy for her enemies; she was not the girl she had left. Rachel was always cold towards people, she had no clue about interacting with others amicably, but that was how she was raised. She never received love or care; she was simply at the disposition of others. Sarah got that, but Rachel had never really showed such darkness in her. She was a bitch, not a cold blooded killer.

Sarah walked among the long halls of the castle. People were still euphoric over the incredible victory. Wherever she went people showed her respect, they saluted and showed immense pride. She could feel that she was finally part of something, however being the protector and famous elf warrior to lover of the now queen, that was not going to be accepted. Not that it was going to happen, anyway. She finally reached the stairs that lead to the royal chambers. She did not waste time knocking on the door, she simply entered Rachel’s bedroom.  
“Oi! Rachel, we need to talk!” Sarah looked around, she checked the bedroom and living room, but Rachel was nowhere to be seen. Sarah walked back to the meeting room to see if anyone knew her whereabouts., she was so focused on her thoughts that she didn’t notice her brother until she bumped him.  
“Oi what are you... Fe? Why are you here? You’re supposed to be with the queen.” Sarah was now getting worried, what she was thinking?.  
“She told me she needed a time for herself, so she ordered me to stay here.” Felix explained.  
“No Fe, you are doing it all wrong! You are supposed to deny her request, to disobey.” Sarah sighed in frustration. Her brother was a good elf; she was the rebellious one, the one who fucked up.  
“Forget it; you have a clue where she went?” Sarah held his brother, he had to tell her or she was going to be seriously pissed.  
“Sorry, she didn’t say. That is the truth.” Felix affirmed.  
“Okay, off you go. Talk to you later.” Sarah went to the gardens to think. If that idiot wants some time alone, she was going to let her, maybe she was feeling regret or not. She had nothing else to do besides looking for a place to stay, she couldn’t live forever with Cosima and her family.  
_________  
She felt empty, nothing was ever the same. The power she had was so tempting. She could command her loyal men at will. One order and she could ask for the life of any being on this land. She could demand the lands of whoever she wanted, and still she wouldn’t feel a thing. Not regret or remorse, nothing at all. What was wrong with her? Sometimes Rachel wondered how different would have been her life if her parents were still alive. Not bearing the responsibility of a kingdom when she was still so young, being simply a girl who wanted to enjoy life.  
Sarah  
The name she hated the most. Was she such a weakling to allowing that elf have such power over her? How that ill-mannered elf became the center of her life. And what the hell was this thing she felt in the depths of her soul? This was so confusing, she didn’t have feelings, yet here she was trying to understand what was really going on with her elf. This started like a game to tame a lioness, but now what it was? Rachel took her glass and drank her whiskey. She was in need of something strong to numb her senses. This was not good at all, the more she thought about that imbecile the more messed up it was.  
Sarah  
She wanted to know everything about her, how she spent this last years, did she sleep well or eat properly? It was stupid to think about those trivial things, in spite of her efforts to stop thinking of her, she remained in her thoughts day and night. The alcohol was not helping at all. This was going to be a long night.  
Sarah  
____________  
Everyday Sarah went to the castle to see if Rachel returned, and every single day Angela Deangelis, assistant council member told her that her majesty was still mourning her husband. Weeks passed and the queen still did not come back. Sarah knew that it was all bullshit; Rachel could never mourn his late husband, she didn’t care about anybody but herself. The worst was that she didn’t tell anybody where she was going. However Sarah knew her well enough to guess where she could be.  
The vacation cabin in the outskirts.  
She had to be there; in that cabin she had enough supplies to survive and it was surrounded by guards so if she wanted privacy and feel safe that was the place to be. She was done waiting, she was going to go and demand explanations. But she had to try to recover first, she was feeling kind of weak recently, maybe she was getting sick. Besides she needed to visit her hometown, Mithrandir, to try to fix her protector status with King Orodreth.

 

The travel took her longer than she expected, she had no idea why she was feeling all weird all of a sudden, maybe it was a spell someone cast or worst, the runes of the dragon riders where the cause of this. After the fight with Helena, those runes on her skin had seemed to change a bit. Whatever it was, she hoped Mrs. S could help her.  
She requested a meeting with the elven council, and hoped the elders gave her another chance. She believed that at least she had higher chance to be reinstated to her duties with them than speaking with demon queen.  
If the council approved, then Rachel had no choice but to let her be by her side. Not that it was the best of choices, but she had to be insane to want to be back with her. Which she thought she already was, more than insane, she knew she loved her. Damn bitch.

“Oi Oi chicken, time to meet the elders.” Mrs. S approached the young elf and patted her on the bac to give her reassurance that everything was going to be well. After all, everybody heard how she killed the Angry Angel. Sarah Manning was a name that started to pop up in many conversations.  
“I’m okay. I can take whatever those elders are going to say.” Sarah was not so sure about it, nonetheless it was important that she showed confidence in front of them.  
“You look a little pale, love. Don’t be nervous.” Mrs. S gave her a small nudge to encourage her to go inside the meeting room. Sarah took a deep breath and walked to meet her fate.  
___________  
“It is time for us to prepare Elizabeth; you should know more about this kingdom than all of us. It’s been four weeks already after the orcs were defeated. Now is time to find out about this elf of theirs.”  
“I was an elf, Henrik, no need to be there to know everything about her. She is an incredible warrior, a fighter who will not back down and will go to the extremes to protect the people she cares.” Beth affirmed.  
“I need you to be there, be our eyes and ears among them. In the meantime we will try to locate all the orbs that remain in Leda. This journey is going to take a long time to accomplish Elizabeth, be ready or else-“  
“I know!, Don’t touch Alison. You try anything and I swear that you are going to regret bringing me back.” Beth warned.  
“Just do what you are told and no harm will come to your dear friend. It is really lovely that even after you passed away she kept going to leave flowers at your tomb. What a marvelous thing.”  
“I’ll keep tabs on everyone involved, no need to keep your ghouls around me anymore.” Beth looked at the man in front of her, his stand confident and dangerous.  
“And how do you plan to feed your hunger? You are going to keep drinking from beasts?” Henrik pointed out.  
“Maybe. I’ll roam around and find a source, I got this covered. The blood hunger is under control, I won’t call the attention of the authorities. I know what I’m doing.” Beth assured him.  
“We will meet again Elizabeth, be careful or else the banshees will take care of you.” Henrik disappeared.

Beth had no other choice than to do what the leader of the Forsaken asked of her. He had her heart; he could just crush it and send her to oblivion or torture her with the banshees. Her only hope was that one day Sarah was going to send her back to her grave, where she was supposed to be resting. For now, she was going to keep an eye on Dyad affairs.  
Since she became an undead, Beth had no need to sleep or eat, to regain her strength she needed warm blood, nothing else. Her life was long gone; she was now a living corpse. Her human memories and feelings fading away, and she was afraid to forget about Alison more than anything else. She wanted to preserve her memories together, which were the only thing that made her feel human again, if she lost that she had no clue what was going to happen to her.

A storm was coming; the wind was blowing fiercely against her, making her long hair move wildly in the air. The raindrops started to fall. The water felt so cold, like her skin. How she wanted to feel the warmth again. She kept walking among the town streets. She had a small place to live in the outsides of Dyad, she was going to be there until the Forsaken requested her again. Her mission was simply to be informed about the whereabouts of Sarah and her queen. She put her hood on to cover from the rain that started to fall more aggressively. The clouds were dark and lightning flashed on the streets. Beth kept walking to her home, when she noticed that she took the wrong route. She took a look around to try to locate where she was. She recognized this area, she kept moving around the wet street when she caught sight of an old building three stories high. The same building where she practiced for a play over and over. And the room where she loved that beautiful human being day and night. She subconsciously went back to the place that reminded her of her life as an elf. Alison, she knew, was now a consecrated archer, she was so proud of her and it was so rewarding to see her improvement day after day, just like she taught her so many years ago. That brought a smile on her face.

Beth returned to her path and hoped that whatever the Forsaken were planning, Sarah could stop it, if only she fixed her mess with the queen, their relationship could be something bright and happy. She put her faith in her sister hands, no matter that she was gone from the world of the living, Sarah was always going to be family to her. And when the time came to face her, she prayed to the gods that Sarah killed her.  
___________  
The storm was now at its peak, she rode her horse under the cold rain, her clothes were all soaked in water but she had to make it to the cabin today. She was done waiting. She had to tell her the good news, after hours of speaking with the elders they finally agreed to give her back her position as protector since she seemed more fit to protect her, even though she used forbidden techniques to increase her strength they understood that it was necessary for the common good. Still she didn’t feel too well, the protector thought that the runes messed her up and that maybe she had to endure this a couple more months until the symbols stopped their shit.  
It was pretty dark already, the storm raging like a devil, the wind was merciless against her, but she kept going, pushing her stallion forward until she arrived to the forest where the cabin was. No one was around, she tried to look for any guard that might confuse her with an enemy, yet, the storm drove away the soldiers. She dismounted the horse and left him at the stable. Once her horse had food and water she went to the main house.

She was shivering; the puff of smoke that her breath left was a sign of how cold it was. She kept moving cautiously in case a soldier appeared in surprise. She could see through a window that only the fireplace was on, the rest of the cabin was completely dark. Sarah turned the knob of the main door, and to her surprise the door was open. When the elf pushed the door, this creaked a bit. She stepped inside and closed the door, one step in and a the sound of metal cutting through air alerted her of an attack. She dodged by centimeters the slash, her left cheek bleeding fro he cut, in a quick twist she grabbed the attacker and pushed against the hard wood wall of the cabin. Lighting lit up the room and that’s when she saw her attacker.  
“Rachel? What the hell? Are you insane? You almost killed me!” Sarah snapped.  
“The real issue here is what are you doing here, elf?” Sarah released her grip on Rachel and let her go.  
“I came here to let you know that the elders gave me back my position.” Sarah was shivering uncontrollably, the wet clothes making it worse. Rachel noticed, so she went and turned on some lamps to light the room and went to look for blankets and something to let the elf dry. When she came back she handled the towel to Sarah.  
“Come near the fireplace, you are freezing, elf.” Rachel left the blankets in front of the fireplace to prepare the bed of her unannounced guest. Sarah started to dry her dripping her while approaching the fireplace.  
“You came all the way here under a storm to tell me that? You are really an idiot, Sarah.” She put tea in a cup and handed it to the other woman. Sarah took a sip and thank the gods it was warm, sending heat to her insides.  
“Not precisely. Why did you kill Tomas?” Sarah did not waste time and asked right away.  
“I did not kill him, he did it himself.” Rachel took a sip of her tea as well, dismissing the elf suspicions.  
“It’s only you and me Rachel, I don’t buy your shitty lies.” Sarah looked straight into her hazel eyes, challenging her to tell the truth.  
“I did not kill him.” She said, no inflection in her tone whatsoever, her voice completely flat. And that was the truth, she had given the order. Sneaky bitch.

“Whatever, you know that I know, Rachel. But I beg you to stop; if you keep going you won’t be able to come back from that darkness that threatens to consume you. Please.” Sarah’s golden-brown eyes were begging her to surrender her darkness, Rachel could see the plead in those luscious eyes, but how she was going to do that, there was no salvation for the likes of her. No one could save her, not even that stupid elf, she had no hope.  
“I do what is needed Sarah you can’t do anything about it, so let it go.” Rachel with her thumb wiped the blood from her cheek, and then she sucked it, very slow, savoring her finger. Sarah was not supposed to be so turned by such disgusting behavior, but she was and her eyes were the brightest gold that Rachel ever saw. Sarah gulped; this was getting into dangerous territory.  
“Take your clothes off…”  
“What?” Sarah was flustered now. Rachel laughed at her.  
“You are very wet, you might get sick.” Rachel said matter of factly.  
Sarah gave a nervous laugh; she was misinterpreting her words completely. What an idiot, she thought, of course she‘s not interested.  
“Right, yeah.” Sarah removed her clothes and hung them in the bathroom; she came with a towel wrapped around her body. Her runes clearly visible for Rachel to see, plus those beautiful scars that adorned her toned body. Rachel noticed that there were a few new cuts, she licked her lips just imagining going over them, and how it would feel to make that stupid elf shiver in excitement.  
“Here you have all you need to sleep; this storm might last for a while so make yourself comfortable.” Rachel moved to the side of the fireplace to show her the sleeping gear she brought to her. Sarah nodded. Then Rachel turned around and went up the stairs back to her bedroom.  
___________  
Who was she kidding? She wanted that elf even after all this time, naked in her bed. The years made her yearn for her, desire her. However she was not going to be weak. That bitch made her suffer and even though she knew Sarah wanted her as well, because those golden eyes were only for her, she was not going to give in to her carnal desires. So instead she turned around and went to the safety of her room.  
She put on her camisole and lay on her big, empty bed. All these weeks that she spent in this cabin had allowed her to clear her mind from distractions, to focus on her purpose and to remind her that she was obsessed with Sarah Manning. And now that she was officially reinstated as her protector, things were supposed to be back to normal. Making her live miserable, she lived for those days. Yet, there was a slight problem, Rachel Duncan lusted the elf, she even allowed her to touch her. She was the first and only in her life, which was ridiculous, but she couldn’t stand affection. She closed her heart to that, and then she met that idiot 7 years ago. She remembered the first day like it was yesterday:  
“So, you are the elf. What is your name?”  
“Alassё Narmolanya, your highness.”  
“Excuse me, what? Do you speak human?”  
“Yes my lady, my name in your language would be Sarah, Sarah Manning.”.  
“Well then Sarah, I’d rather not hear elvish around here, do you understand?”  
“Yes, your highness.”  
“And make sure that you cover those pointy ears you have, they look weird.”

Yes, she remembered it clearly. How pissed Sarah had been, the defiance in her eyes was the first thing she noticed. She was the first to say no to her, to say fuck you, bitch. But she also loved how brave she was, how she jumped recklessly in front of danger for her, because honor and duty was important to that stupid elf. And yes, she loved all of that.  
Rachel couldn’t sleep, she kept turning from side to side to side, her head saying one thing and her heart something else, and she couldn’t make up her mind. The storm raged outside, it was so cold, the fireplace so tempting, but more tempting was the person on the lower floor sleeping, naked.  
Duty first, she recited, it was like a mantra to her. She couldn’t allow these treacherous feelings, she was now a queen, and a queen aims high, a queen does not pin for a pathetic elf.  
___________  
Sarah was still awake, her body stopped shivering already, the fire warmed her body, yet she felt ill. Something was definitely wrong with her, and she had to find an answer to that, so she was going to talk with Cosima as soon as the stormed passed. She needed answers and the faerie could provide them, well probably.  
She sat, no point trying to sleep when she couldn’t, maybe it was better if she simply relaxed in front of the fireplace. Her hair was still a bit damp, so Sarah tried to comb her hair with her fingers to try to avoid tangled strands in the morning. The blankets around her body were a bit loose, which meant that she was showing a lot more skin than usual, but who cared, she was alone after all. She closed her eyes, maybe some meditation would work. She let her thoughts drift, her breaths were slow and controlled, and she tried to ease the tension of her body. The storm’s wind rattled the windows and the lighting and thunder rattled the floor. She might spend here more time than she predicted.

She was getting in the zone, her mind looking for calmness, when a warm hand touched her left cheek, and turned her face to the right, she opened her eyes to see Rachel looking at her wearing a very revealing camisole. And then she kissed her, slowly, carefully. Sarah closed her eyes and kissed her back. Only then, Rachel increased the pressure of her lips like she was asking for permission first. The kiss deepened, the tongues danced, and Sarah pressed her hands on Rachel’s back, pulling her closer. Rachel broke the kiss and pushed Sarah over the blankets, she was on top of the elf in no time, kissing her wild, her hands roaming over her naked hard body. Sarah let her do what she wanted, she was under Rachel, anchoring her, letting her have her way with her. Her rough hands caressed her thighs, exploring under the thin fabric her soft skin. Rachel’s nipples were hard under the satin of her camisole, Sarah sat in order to pull the straps of her camisole down and lavish her breasts. Rachel arched her back giving her more access to her peaks. Her tongue moved around in circles, and then suckled hard, making Rachel moan.

Rachel wanted the hands of the elf over her body asap, so she removed her camisole and threw it to the side. Sarah had her mouth over one breast while her hand massaged the other, pressing her nipple with her thumb. Now it was Sarah who took control of the situation, she was feasting on the queen. Rachel let her head fall back, her breaths increasing the rhythm. The fireplace was not needed anymore, their body heats as enough to keep them warm.  
Sarah was concentrated on the task when she stopped.  
“Gods damn it elf don’t stop!” Rachel commanded.  
“Don’t you smell that? It’s like…” Sarah looked around when she saw the problem. “Bloody hell” She pushed Rachel roughly and stood up, she took the camisole that was on fire and ran to throw it outside where the rain would extinguish the fire.  
“Okay, let’s not burn the cabin, yeah?” Sarah grinned looking at Rachel who was stoic, until she cracked and laughed. That was the most beautiful sound Sarah had heard, it was a genuine laugh, a real one.  
Rachel extended her hand in invitation and Sarah knew right there and there that she never stopped loving the woman. She walked in her direction and took her hand. Rachel pulled her to her and kissed her, this time more softly. Rachel kissed her neck, leaving a trail of kisses until she reached her collarbone, her hands traveling south right under her navel until she reached the wet mound eliciting a gasp from the elf. She tortured her with roughness and kindness, leaving marks all over her body, staking her claim. This elf was the queen’s inside and out and she was going to make sure she understood that. Her fingers slid easily into her tight wet channel, she thrusted hard and fast, relentlessly, so hot and wild.  
“You are mine Sarah, MINE!” Rachel growled, her fingers sliding easily, the friction increasing the pleasure of the warrior until her moans while climaxing tore the sky in two.

Sarah kissed Rachel, this time she was going to take her time, to make sure that she knew that what her words were going to be truth. Because she was ready to say the words to her, she knew it was right.  
Sarah Manning was going to teach this idiot how to love.  
She bit and nipped, but always reverently, lovingly. She was not going to rush this, it was so important to her to show Rachel what she felt. She travelled all the curves of her body, her calloused hands making the young queen shiver in pleasure, in ecstasy. When Sarah worked her clit with her tongue Rachel was in heaven, then her fingers were inside, working magic, pumping slowly, taking her time. Rachel dug her nails on her back, she was so desperate for release, yet the elf was going to keep it slow, teasing enough but not giving too much. Sarah was now face to face with her, her hand working down while she looked her in the eye, she wanted to see her face while she climaxed, so she pumped harder and faster, and when she came Sarah saw the most beautiful face on all Leda.

The sweat made their skins look brighter under the fire light, their bodies tangled between the sheets. Their heartbeats were back to normal again. Sarah held Rachel between her arms and Rachel caressed her body, her fingers tracing the scars on her chest until both fell asleep.  
Morning came and this time, the elf remained by her side, she was curled over her right side so she could see the complete detail of the rune over her scapula. She traced the patterns softly; when Sarah stirred she knew the protector was awake.  
“Good morning.” Rachel said, her raspy morning voice was the most arousing thing Sarah had ever heard. The elf turned over to look at the queen.  
She caressed her lips and kissed her. “Good morning, your majesty.” Sarah propped on her elbow and took a deep breath and exhaled softly.  
“This is complicated you know, you and I.” Sarah said.  
“I know, but we can figure it out if you stay by my side.” Rachel tangled her fingers on the long brown hair of her loyal warrior.  
“I will stay by your side, always, because…” she closed her eyes like sending a prayer to the gods to give her bravery right now and then she said it “Le melin, hiril vuin.” Rachel blinked and furrowed her brows.  
“You don’t have to say anything, yeah?” Sarah tried to dismiss the seriousness of her words before she made a fool of herself.  
“You love me?” Rachel tilted her head, trying to grasp the meaning of these words.  
“Yeah, but it’s no big deal, okay? Forget I said anything. Besides I am seriously hungry, I don’t know why? I’ll prep something quick, yeah.” Sarah put on a shirt and went to the kitchen fast. She had no clue what was now going to happen, but the words were already out, she said she loved her and now she was a fool of herself.  
Rachel saw the elf work her way to the kitchen, pondering what she just did. She loves me. She couldn’t believe it. Someone loved her, her elf loved her. Did she loved her back? Yes, you do. But she wasn’t ready to give Sarah Manning such power over her, once she replied to her feeling she knew it was game over. Instead she decided to wait, the moment passed so she joined the elf in the kitchen.

 

Two days later the storm moved on and Rachel and Sarah returned to the castle. Things were the usual between them, except for the fact that after meetings there would be stolen kisses, quickies behind curtains and love-making at night.  
If it weren’t for the weird sickness Sarah was developing, she would be truly happy. That day after the meeting with the council, Sarah met with Alison, Cosima Delphine and Elise who were waiting for the queen in the library.  
“I think we need to discuss that topic with Rachel first, no way we are going to let that treaty go to hell.” Alison commented.  
“Yeah sure.” Sarah was seated, her skin was very pale.  
“Dude you look like shit.” Cosima joked.  
“No kidding.” Sarah was not in the mood for jokes.  
“No, but really what is it?” Alison asked her friend.  
“I think it has to do with this runes, it has been ruining my life.” Sarah propped her elbow over the table. When the smell hit her she felt terrible.  
“Oh gods what is that? I feel sick.” Sarah stood up, pretty shaky.  
“What?” Everybody look around, not getting what she meant.  
“Oh, excuse me.” Sarah ran to the nearest pot and threw up.  
“Chérie, I don’t think those are the runes.” Delphine had Elise on her lap who was eating porridge.  
The doors to the library opened and the queen made her entrance. This time Rachel was feeling brave, after the meeting when the two of them were alone she was going to say that she loved her back. She was ready to commit.  
“Woah, no way. Sarah? When was the last time you had sexual intercourse?”  
Rachel stopped on her tracks.  
Sarah came back, cleaning her mouth with the back of her hand “Wha’?”  
“Those symptoms I had them as well Sarah, before Elise.” Delphine remarked.  
“Are you effing serious? You think I’m pregnant? I mean, Rachel does not count” She laughed. Rachel looked at Sarah.  
“Eeewww, too much information.” Alison groaned.  
“No but really it’s ridiculous I didn’t had sex with any-“ The smile on her face melted away. She flashed back to that day when she spoke with Ghost Beth, when she was utterly drunk because of Rachel’s rejection, when she met this guy whose name she didn’t remembered.  
“Oh no you didn’t-” Rachel warned.  
“Bloody hell.”


End file.
